"It's an opportunity to solidify what has been a very good start in the bilateral relationship," White House deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough told reporters in a conference call, referring to the Hu meeting.
Thank you McDonough for giving me the chuckle! Normally, I don't talk about politic in my blog, but that quote above was pure gold.
Obama to discuss N.Korea with China's Hu at G20
Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:12pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE52R1LK20090328
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will discuss concerns about a possible North Korean missile launch with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G20 summit next week, White House officials said on Saturday.
"It's an opportunity to solidify what has been a very good start in the bilateral relationship," White House deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough told reporters in a conference call, referring to the Hu meeting.
"We'll obviously want to take an opportunity to discuss our shared concerns about preparations in North Korea for a launch that we, as you know, would consider to be counter to U.N. Security Council resolution 1718."
The resolution, adopted in 2006, imposes arms and financial sanctions on North Korea after it conducted its first nuclear test three months after firing its longest-range Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. It also bans sale of luxury goods to the North.
Pyongyang has said it will launch a communications satellite between April 4-8. But regional powers believe the real purpose is to test a long-range missile, the Taepodong-2, which is already on its launch pad at a North Korean missile base.
White House officials said Hu and Obama also would discuss the economy during the London summit but declined to comment on whether the issue of a global reserve currency would come up.
"Their agenda is a broad agenda that will cover a number of issues -- economic, political, strategic. So I wouldn't want to prejudge what they will end up talking about," said Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs.
"We obviously look forward to a positive, cooperative and constructive relationship as it relates kind of across the board on these issues," McDonough said.
He referred to Obama's comments at a news conference on Tuesday about the global currency. The president said that the U.S. dollar was "extraordinarily strong" and that there was no need for a single global currency.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Caren Bohan; Editing by Xavier Briand)
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