Following is the text of Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly's May 16 departure statement from Beijing, China:

Departure Statement
James A. Kelly
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
May 16, 2001
Beijing, PRC

During my May 15 meetings with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, we had a good exchange of views. In the centerpiece of a full day of consultations, I explained the four elements of President Bush's planned new framework for security and stability: non-proliferation, counter-proliferation, missile defense, and an on-going review of U.S. nuclear forces that will sharply reduce the numbers of such weapons.

In particular, I stressed that our plans for a missile defense system would not be a threat to China. Rather, our approaches are intended to defend against threats or attacks from rogue states as well as from accidental or unauthorized launches.

Although we clearly still have differences of opinion, our consultations on this subject were constructive and constitute a good beginning to what both sides agreed would be a continuing dialogue on these important security issues.

We also discussed other bilateral issues and the overall situation in the Asia-Pacific Region as well as areas of disagreement such as Taiwan and human rights. It was clear from these talks that we have many areas of shared interest. In order to build on these common interests, we agreed on the need to continue consultations on regional issues.

We discussed the status of the EP-3 and agreed to continue to work through diplomatic channels to secure the aircraft's return. We stressed the need for quick action to resolve this issue.

I look forward to further dialogue on all of the issues we discussed. Through continued consultations, we can build on our areas of shared interest while engaging in productive conversations on the points where we disagree.