US must work with Russia, China

Comment on "Tread with care, Li urges China, US" (China Daily, April 30)

The article says: "Premier Li Keqiang told (former US treasury secretary) Timothy Geithner that China and the US should stick to a vision of 'no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation' that their leaders had agreed to in The Hague."

This is wonderful advice and, if followed, could yield wonderful results. For example, without the ready support of a large fleet of Russian icebreaking ships, the United States (or any other country) cannot safely drill for offshore oil in Arctic waters.

So, I suggest, that instead of imposing sanctions on Russia, and issuing demands against China's interests, the US should expand the existing bilateral pact with Moscow to include cooperation with Beijing (now building a massive icebreaking ship) to explore and exploit Arctic oil and respond to emergencies like oil spills and other accidents. Research using Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers will enable safer Arctic oil exploration by the US, China and Russia in the near future.

Daniel N. Russell, via e-mail

Readers' comments are welcome. Please send your e-mail to opinion@chinadaily.com.cn or letters@chinadaily.com.cn or to the individual columnists. China Daily reserves the right to edit all letters. Thank you.