Conciliatory tone as top diplomats from United States and China meet

By Cate Cadell and Patpicha Tanakasempipat
BANGKOK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo and China's top diplomat Wang Yi met face-to-face for the
first time this year on Thursday and Wang said they discussed
ways to promote China-U.S. ties despite "recent disturbances".
The words contrasted with the scorn Chinese officials have
heaped on Pompeo recently, with U.S.-Chinese ties souring on
multiple fronts, from a trade war to U.S. sanctions on Chinese
telecoms giant Huawei to Taiwan and the South China Sea.
"There may be at various times issues and problems between
China and the United States, but no matter how many problems it
is important for both sides to sit down and have face-to-face
discussions," Wang said after the meeting of roughly 30 minutes.
Both officials are in the Thai capital of Bangkok for
security meetings with countries of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping, on the front line of rivalry
between the United States and an increasingly muscular China.
After the meeting, Pompeo said on Twitter that he had an
in-depth exchange of views with Wang on U.S.-China relations,
North Korea and other topics.
"When it advances U.S. interests, we are ready to cooperate
with China," he said.
At the start of a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts,
Pompeo said the United States never asked countries in the
region to choose sides, though he did mention commitment to
national sovereignty, the rule of law and human rights, touchy
points with China.
Neither mentioned the South China Sea, where the United
States has increasingly pressured China over its sweeping
maritime claims and where recent Chinese confrontations with
Southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam have increased tension.
Wang said Pompeo made clear that Washington did not aim to
contain China's development and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment
to the one-China policy regarding Taiwan.
He said China welcomed Washington's willingness to resume
talks with North Korea on denuclearisation and was willing to
create favourable conditions to help restart the talks.
Analysts said the apparently conciliatory tone at the
meeting could be aimed at avoiding stoking conflict with U.S.
President Donald Trump.
"They don't want Pompeo to report back to Trump that China
is using the South China issue as a bargaining tool in the
bigger China-U.S. game," said Eduardo Araral, an expert on water
policy at the National University of Singapore.
"So they probably try to dial down the tension in their
rhetoric."
U.S. and Chinese negotiators ended a brief round of trade
talks in Shanghai on Wednesday with little sign of progress and
agreed to meet again in September, prolonging an uneasy truce in
a year-long trade war between the world's two largest economies.

(Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)