US vice-president Biden says relations with China must be based on trust

Relations with China need to be based on trust, US vice-president Joe Biden said as he emerged from a meeting with president Xi Jinping, with neither leader mentioning an ongoing dispute over a Chinese air defence zone that has rattled nerves across the region.

“Candour generates trust,” Mr Biden said after the meeting, which went on an hour longer than scheduled.

Both leaders agreed that the relationship between the two major powers would significantly affect the course of the 21st century. “This new model of major country co-operation ultimately has to be based on trust and a positive notion about the motive of one another,” Mr Biden said.

There was no mention of US concerns over China’s new air defence zone, even though the vice president had promised to raise those concerns “with great specificity”.

For his part, Mr Xi was also sombre. "The world as a whole is not tranquil," he said, adding that the US and China, as two major economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, shoulder responsibilities to maintain world peace.

“To enhance dialogues and co-operation is the only correct choice for us,” said the Chinese president.

China has been taking a markedly more robust approach in its international dealings since Mr Xi took office in November last year.

This has been a week of aggressive language aimed at visiting foreign leaders in the state-run media.

The Global Times marked prime minister David Cameron's visit this week by lampooning Britain as a small country for tourists and students, while the Xinhua news agency satirised Japan as America's little brother, "pissing off almost everybody in the region by its attitude toward its wartime history".

The China Daily said Mr Biden should not expect to make much progress in defusing tensions over the East China Sea if he planned to repeat "erroneous and one-sided remarks" on the issue during his China visit.

Perhaps the remarks he made to young Chinese citizens waiting for visas at the US embassy could fall into that category. “I hope you learn that innovation can only occur where you can breathe free, challenge the government, challenge religious leaders,” he said, in remarks largely unreported in Chinese media.

Mr Biden is hoping to reassure US allies in the region, including South Korea, which he visits after China, that the US government is serious about the rebalancing of power toward the Asia-Pacific region away from the Middle East, a policy known as the Asian Pivot.

China has been keen to boost its maritime standing in the region, and it has territorial disputes with all neighbours that have coastlines.

China says all aircraft entering the zone must notify its authorities beforehand or face unspecified defensive measures. The US responded by immediately flying two B-52 bombers into the region, and its allies soon followed suit. China said it was monitoring the aircraft, but stopped short of any more pointed response.