This in turn illustrates a fundamental fact about our relationship with China. The United States cooperates with China not only because China is a great and growing nation. We cooperate with China because we have a great interest in doing so. We do not seek to contain the most populous nation on earth. In fact, it is in our interest to cooperate with you.
China has a strong and growing economy, and it is increasingly a part of the open global market.
It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is a member of more that 1,000 international organizations. It would not be in our interest to try to contain a nation that has the potential to offer so much to this region and to the world. Across the Asian Pacific region, our alliances focus on preserving stability in Asia. The U.S.-Japan security alliance has been and remains a foundation for peace and stability in the region, and under our new guidelines for new defense cooperation, the United States and Japan are actively improving our ability to provide peacekeeping support, humanitarian relief, respond to regional crises, and integrate our security structures.