China and the US may have disagreements but those are within the context of friendship, visiting US Senator Joseph Lieberman said yesterday.

"China is a global power and is playing an increasingly important role in matters of global interest," Lieberman told reporters at the US embassy in Beijing.

"We can work together on a host of matters facing the world."

The Democrat senator cited most positive recent examples to show the leading role China has played, along with the US and other countries, in the six-party talks that led to a breakthrough in the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Lieberman said China played an important and constructive role in persuading Sudan to accept the UN-African Union "hybrid peacekeeping force" in Darfur.

The senator is also a strong believer in free and fair trade. "Increasing trade across the world raises most boats, not all boats there are some people who are dislocated by trade, but the right way to respond to it is not to close the doors," Lieberman said, referring the trade dispute between China and the US.

Instead of closing our doors, "we should provide assistance to those who could lose jobs and train them for new ones, and provide necessary assistance to support their families".

Trade has also been good for the US economy, and it certainly has created many more jobs than it has reduced. It has also lowered Americans' cost of living, he said.

He asked China to grant greater access to its market to check the increasing trade imbalance.

(China Daily August 8, 2007)