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McCain calls on China to fight protectionism together with US

By Hou Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-04-09 20:49

Former US presidential candidate senator John McCain Thursday urged China to fight against protectionism and trade barriers together with the United States.

US Senators John McCain (C) of Arizona, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota (L) and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina (R) attend a press conference at the Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy in Beijing, April 9, 2009. [chinadaily.com.cn/Hou Lei]

"One of the commitments that our two presidents have made is to try to fight back protectionism and erection of barriers between our countries," said McCain, who leads a congressional delegation visiting Beijing Thursday. The capital is the third leg of their weeklong Asian tour, which also includes stops in Hong Kong, Hanoi and Tokyo.

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McCain, who was Obama's opponent in last year's presidential campaign, said he believes in President Barack Obama's commitment to free trade.

"To now enact protectionist measures would be damaging，I think，to the world's economy and the United States'economy," McCain told a press conference in Beijing.

The senator said he believed anti-protectionism has now become far more important in light of America’s economic challenges.

McCain called the recent meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama "very productive and fruitful" saying it will lead to concrete progress to bilateral relations on a variety of issues.

He also commented on the recent upgrading of dialogue between China and the United States.

"The dialogue has changed because the world's economy has changed [and] because the United States is in the greatest economic crisis in any one of our life times," said the Arizona senator.

"China-US strategic and economic dialogue" was set up after the meeting between President Hu and Obama earlier this month.

The new dialogue replaces the China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) and China-US Strategic Dialogue, which focuses separately on economy and politics.

Accompanied by Senators Lindsey Graham and Amy Klobuchar, McCain arrived in Beijing Wednesday after concluding a two-day visit to Vietnam.

The delegation Wednesday had talks with China's top legislator Wu Bangguo, Defence Minister Liang Guanglie and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on economic and security issues. The delegation is scheduled to visit the renowned Peking University to have a round-table discussion with students there.

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