Beijing approves of US experts' letter saying economic policies will backfire

Beijing expressed its approval on Monday of a draft open letter signed by US Asia specialists to United States President Donald Trump and the US Congress.

The draft, signed by some 80 experts, said, "US efforts to treat China as an enemy and decouple it from the global economy will damage America's international role and reputation and undermine the economic interests of all nations," according to Reuters.

Signatories included Susan Thornton, a former top diplomat for East Asian affairs, and J. Stapleton Roy, a former US ambassador to Beijing.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the draft "contains some reasonable notions and voices".

The most important consensus the two countries' leaders reached on Saturday in their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, was to continue to promote China-US ties with coordination, cooperation and stability, Geng said in a daily news conference.

The two leaders also agreed to restart trade talks on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

These consensuses have attracted a positive response from China, the US and the international community, showing that sound development of bilateral ties is a common aspiration of the two peoples and the international community, Geng said.

During the Osaka meeting with Trump, President Xi Jinping said China and the US both benefit from cooperation and lose in confrontation, and that cooperation is better than friction, and dialogue better than confrontation.

Geng said there will be steady and sustained bilateral ties as long as the two countries work according to the principles and direction set by their heads of state, expand cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit, manage differences on the basis of mutual respect and properly solve current and potential problems in their ties.

Geng on Monday also urged Washington not to allow Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen to transit through the US during her Caribbean trip this month.

He reiterated China's firm opposition to official contacts between the US and Taiwan, urging the US to cautiously and appropriately handle Taiwan-related issues to avoid harming China-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.

China has lodged "stern representations" to the US on the issue, Geng added.