In opening a two-day strategic and economic dialogue, China's president expresses hope for better communication and greater patience between the two countries. Talks will focus on North Korea, cyber-espionage, and tensions in the South China Sea. A Tibetan writer is arrested to prevent her from attending event at the US embassy.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - China's President Xi Jinping called for greater military communication with the United States to prevent global disasters.

Opening high-level talks at the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, he called for mutual respect, strategic patience and unperturbed behaviour in case of individual incidents and comments. Otherwise, "A conflict between China and United States will definitely be a disaster for the two countries and the world," he said.

The two-day meeting at the Diaoyutai guesthouse is the sixth round of the bilateral event. The aim is to rehabilitate relations strained by differences over cyber-espionage, escalating maritime disputes between China and US allies like the Philippines and Japan in the Asia Pacific, and security on the Korean Peninsula.

On this occasion, a final element of tension was Tibetan writer Tsering Woeser who was put under house arrest yesterday. Chinese security officers gave no reasons for her detention.

In all likelihood, she was arrested to prevent her from attending an event at the US embassy in Beijing, where she might have met US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Last year, the US State Department awarded Tsering Woeser the 'International Women of Courage Award' but Beijing banned her from travelling to the US capital to receive the award.

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