U.S. Department of State

During their meeting today, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the People’s Republic of China Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi reviewed the wide range of common interests between the United States and China and discussed ways to advance our shared goal of maintaining peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

In pursuit of this goal, Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Yang announced the intention of the United States and China to pursue several areas of practical cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, the United States and China:

• Intend to cooperate with the Government of Timor-Leste to promote agricultural development and food security in Timor-Leste;
• Decided that the U.S. Agency for International Development and the China Earthquake Administration will cooperate with ASEAN and the UN-led International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) to strengthen collaboration on Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) in Asia; and
• Announced the intention of U.S. Pacific Command’s Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance and the People’s Liberation Army to cooperate with ASEAN partners to strengthen regional capacity building efforts in the area of Disaster Relief and Response.

Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Yang also underscored their resolve to identify additional areas of concrete regional cooperation to advance common interests and contribute to efforts to build a more stable, peaceful, and prosperous Asia-Pacific region for the 21st century.