Top US General Says Committed to Working Through Difficulties With China

Top US General Says Committed to Working Through Difficulties With China
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 27, 2015. AP Photo/Kevin Wolf
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BEIJING—There are many difficult issues between the United States and China but both share a commitment to work through them, the United States’ top general said on Tuesday during a visit to Beijing amid tensions over nuclear-armed North Korea.

“I think we have to be honest. We have many, many difficult issues where we don’t necessarily share the same perspective,” Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army.

“We share a commitment to work through these difficult issues,” he added, without elaborating.

Fang said China attached great importance to his visit and had arranged a visit for him to view a military exercise.

There was no mention of specific issues in comments made in front of reporters.

The United States has called on China to do more to rein in its isolated neighbor North Korea, while China has said it is Washington that needs to be making more efforts to lessen tensions and speak directly to Pyongyang.