British FM: Britain to continue co-op with China despite of differences

LONDON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Saturday Britain would continue to work together with China in cooperation on trade, environment, and dealing with major international issues despite of differences with China in human rights.

Speaking at the BBC Radio 4 Today program, Miliband said, "you can go through all the issues on which we have got differences with China. Should we raise those differences? Yes."

"Does it mean that we shouldn't trade, do work on the environment, tackle other major international questions? No it doesn't, because the truth about the modern world is that there's a massive shift of power going on." he said.

"There's a shift of power going on from west to east, which is obviously the importance of the prime minister's move to China, work in China." Miliband said.

"Secondly, there's a big shift in power from the national to the international level. Terrorism, environment are global problems that affect us all, and are shared problems." he said.

"And there's a third shift of power as well, away from governments to citizens. That's happening in China as well ... So even in China there is a shift of power from government to people." he added.

Asked about China's human rights, Miliband said Britain and China have had annual human rights dialogue.

"So I think it is important that politics and political development is part of the discussion that we have with China, but obviously there is a range of other issues: the economy, the environment I think the prime minister's talking about today, and the reform of international institutions so that China's weight, its economic, its political and its environmental weight, can be felt." Miliband said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown are in China for a three-day official visit to China, his first China tour since assuming office last June.