The United States “very much” supports the steps, Obama said. “Confrontation and friction are not the right choice”, he said.
Advertisement
“We have jointly affirmed the principle that governments don’t engage in cyber espionage for financial gain against companies”, Obama said during the appearance.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But Mr. Obama said China must make good on its promises, or the US could consider new sanctions.
Overall, Obama said, the two leaders’ visit had yielded “an extremely productive meeting“, adding that their candid conversations on areas of disagreement “help us to understand each other better”.
At the same time, the Obama administration is still at a loss about how to curb China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea, where Beijing has continued to reclaim land for potential military use despite conflicting claims with its neighbors.
But he promised respect for freedom of navigation and overflight. “And I encouraged a resolution between claimants in these areas”, Obama said.
On human rights, another sore spot between the nations, Obama said the two had a “frank discussion”. “We are hopeful the understanding reached by the president and Chinese President Xi Jinping results in real progress on the ground”, he said.
“To this end, we have established the mechanism on regular phone conversation on economic affairs between China and the United States, which will be led by Vice Premier Wong Yang of China and Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew”.
“The set of new domestic policies announced by President Xi should put to rest any concerns that China isn’t totally committed to systematically cutting its emissions, and the cooperative initiatives to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles and from buildings and appliances show that the world’s two largest emitters are intensifying efforts to meet the economy-wide commitments they announced last November”.
For its part, Washington reaffirmed a pledge it made past year to channel $3 billion into a U.N.-backed Green Climate Fund. But Congressional wrangling over the federal budget threatens to delay the implementation of the pledge.
China also said Friday it will contribute more than $3 billion in financing for developing countries to adapt to climate change.
Over the past year, the FBI has recorded a 53 percent increase in Chinese cyberattacks in the United States for the objective of business and trade espionage. “We have the right to uphold our own territorial sovereignty and lawful and legitimate maritime rights and interests”, he was reported as saying by AFP.
According to Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Robert Knake, the agreement will be enforced by something called CERT-to-CERT agreement – that is, direct cooperation between Chinese and American law enforcement officials.
Those included Xi’s announcement that China will launch a national carbon cap-and-trade system in 2017 to help contain the country’s emissions, which will build on seven regional pilot markets already operation in China. The US can’t hold the Chinese government responsible for everything its citizens do, Obama acknowledged.
Advertisement
China dispatched its top domestic security official to Washington to try to stave off sanctions ahead of the president’s arrival.
