Hu Jintao meets Pelosi

BEIJING, May 28 (UPI) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao praised Sino-U.S. ties in his meeting with visiting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which the California lawmaker reciprocated.

Pelosi, who arrived Sunday for a week of discussions with China on global warming, is an open critic of China's human rights but in her meeting with Hu, she said bilateral ties were of high significance.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua, which carried a color photograph of the meeting, reported Hu said China and the United States, during their 30 years of diplomatic relations, have made remarkable progress, adding the two countries had "worked closer" in many fields in the new century.

Hu said he and U.S. President Barack Obama, at their April meeting in London, agreed to promote a "positive," "cooperative" and "comprehensive" relationship for development of bilateral ties. He said the two countries' efforts must be based on equality and mutual respect, and that differences could be handled through dialogue and consultation.

Pelosi expressed hope her trip would help step up cooperation in such fields as energy, the environment and climate change.

In her stand against China, Pelosi in 1991 unfurled a banner on Tiananmen Square, where pro-democracy protests in 1989 led to a Chinese government crackdown.

Last year, she was attacked by China for saying President George W. Bush should boycott the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Summer Olympics. She also met with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in India.