US neutrality urged on China-Japan dispute(2)

In the interview, the veteran Chinese diplomat also refuted the US allegations of Chinese cyber attacks against American computer networks, citing that the United States has not had hard evidence to prove them.

Moreover, he noted, the United States is much more advanced than China in terms of the development of information technologies and "is in better position both to defend itself and to maybe go on the offensive against others."

Cui said the two sides should sit down to work out a new set of rules on cybersecurity, and find out ways that "we can work together to prevent such attacks from happening again."

On the tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese envoy said that China and the United States have many common interests on the issue, though they might also have "slightly different approaches on how to reach our common goals."

China is advocating three principles in its policy on the Korean Peninsula, namely standing for stability, for denuclearization and for peaceful means to resolve the differences, Cui said, adding that China will do whatever is necessary to achieve the goals of denuclearization and stability on the peninsula.

"And our influence over the DPRK (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) may not be as real as what is reported in the media," he said in response to the claims that China has unique ways of putting pressure on the DPRK and should put real pressure on it.

On the Syrian crisis, Cui said China follows the principle that "the affairs of a particular country should be determined by its own people", adding that "It's not up to China or the United States to decide the future of the country."