Spotlight: Law enforcement, cybersecurity dialogue strengthens China-U.S. cooperation

File Photo: Chinese flags and American flags are displayed in a company in Beijing on Aug. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- In their first Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue earlier this week, China and the United States pledged to produce stronger and closer bilateral cooperation in counter-narcotics, cybersecurity, repatriation and other fields.

FOCUS ON COOPERATION

The one-day meeting was co-chaired on Wednesday by visiting Chinese State Councilor Guo Shengkun, and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Acting Secretary for Homeland Security Elaine Duke.

At the meeting, the two sides agreed to commit to mutual respect, equity, frankness and pragmatism, make a full use of the dialogue mechanism and further strengthen bilateral communication and cooperation in law enforcement and cybersecurity.

Guo, also China's public security minister, called on the two sides to focus on cooperation and manage their differences so as to make bilateral cooperation in law enforcement and cybersecurity a new highlight in China-U.S. ties, and work relentlessly to promote global security governance and build a universal and secure community of shared destiny for mankind.

The meeting has proved to be very fruitful as demonstrated in an intergovernmental joint statement.

In the statement released on Friday outlining the fruitful outcomes of the meeting, the two sides expressed their intention to enhance cooperation on narcotics control and enforcement and gave a nod to continue their implementation of the consensus reached by the Chinese and U.S. presidents in 2015 on China-U.S. cybersecurity cooperation.

China and the United States also consented to develop a repeatable process to verify the identity of illegal immigrants in a timely manner.

The two sides also intended to make a full use of the established hotline mechanism for addressing urgent cyber-crime and network protection issues and to communicate timely at the leadership and working levels.

The two sides will continue to push forward pragmatic cooperation, guaranteeing mutual benefit and promote a peaceful, safe, open, cooperative and orderly cyberspace, Guo said.

The meeting is one of four high-level communication mechanisms established during the Mar-a-Lago meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at Palm Beach in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida on April 6-7, 2017.

WELL-PREPARED DIALOGUE

The two sides attached high importance to the dialogue and already showed intention for cooperation in the preparatory stage leading up to the meeting, according to the Chinese officials who attended the event.

Since June, the U.S. law enforcement has handed over two criminal suspects to Chinese police, while the Chinese side has repatriated two wanted suspects listed on an Interpol red notice to the United States.

The two sides also conducted several rounds of talks on anti-terrorism, counter-narcotics, cybersecurity and immigration ahead of their gathering in Washington.

The Chinese officials described the bilateral cooperation on cases of mutual concern as "smooth, positive and pragmatic."

The U.S. side stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation in law enforcement and cybersecurity, saying that the two sides face common threats as well as interests in these areas.

The United States also agreed to work with China to use the dialogue mechanism to strengthen bilateral cooperation in related areas, promote specific cases through dialogue with the Chinese side and work to yield more outcomes to benefit both countries and their peoples.