The United States does not support "Taiwan independence", and is opposed to any unilateral move aimed at changing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and any provocative action as well, said Rice, during talks with visiting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Yang, for his part, said that the Taiwan issue is the most important and most sensitive issue in bilateral relations.

The Chinese side hopes that the United States will fully recognize the complexity and sensitivity of the current cross-Strait situation, adhere to the one-China policy, oppose "Taiwan independence," and abide by the three China-US joint communiques, said Yang.

The Chinese official hailed the important progress that had been made in bilateral relations over the past year, saying that Sino-US relations are faced with opportunities as well as some complicated factors in the new year.

He added that the Chinese side is willing to work with the US side to firmly implement the important consensus reached by Chinese President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart George W. Bush, promote high-level exchanges and bilateral strategic dialogues, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas, properly handle existing differences so as to further the constructive and cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Rice expressed her satisfaction with the advancement of bilateral ties, saying that President Bush and the US government have been actively promoting the development of Sino-US relations.

She added that the United States is ready to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges between the two countries, boost bilateral cooperation on major international and regional issues, and continue to improve the China-US strategic dialogue.

Also on Friday, in a separate meeting with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Yang said that the First Strategic Economic Dialogue co-hosted by Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and Paulson in December 2006 was a big success, which is conducive to the growth of bilateral economic and trade cooperation as well as to the development of regional economy and that of world economy at large.

Yang's remarks were echoed by Paulson, who expressed his readiness to to work with the Chinese side to intensify preparations for the Second Strategic Economic Dialogue scheduled for May 2007 in Washington.

On the same day, Yang also held talks with US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns.

Yang, as a special envoy of the Chinese government, attended the state funeral of former US President Gerald Ford on Tuesday.

During his stay in Washington, Yang met with dozens of US congressmen, and held talks with former political figures and personages from think tanks and commercial circles.

He also delivered speeches at banquets held separately by US-China Business Council and the Brookings Institute.