"I would not say we are 'troubled,' I would say that we are aware of their concerns and that we are working to address them," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said when asked about Beijing's complaints.

As for the Russians, now led by President Dmitry Medvedev, "We know that this is an important issue that they take very seriously," Perino told reporters.

"We do too, and we understand that they have concerns, and it's concerns that we want to address, and that's why we have an open conversation with them," the spokeswoman said.

The White House had said Thursday that Medvedev was open to talks on the issue -- one day before the new Russian leader joined China's President Hu Jintao on Friday in warning that the proposed missile shield "would not contribute to maintaining strategic balance and stability."

In a joint statement issued in Beijing during Medvedev's first foreign trip as president, they said it "hinders international arms control and non-proliferation efforts."

At the Pentagon, spokesman Bryan Whitman shrugged off the joint denunciation, saying the concerns behind it were neither new nor different.

"Those countries have been very consistent in their discomfort over a defense system that has interceptors and radars in Europe," he said.

"So I don't see it as ... their concerns being new or different in that regard," he told reporters, adding that the United States has tried to allay them with proposals to make missile defense operations more transparent.

The US plan calls for installing 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a targeting radar in the Czech Republic by 2012 to counter what Washington regards as an emerging missile threat from Iran.

The Czech government has approved the radar but the United States is still negotiating with Poland.

Perino dismissed Moscow's longstanding complaint that the system is aimed at Russia "because of the way that the Russians and their military could crush such a system."

earlier related report
China, Russia denounce US missile plans in Medvedev debut
Russia and China on Friday denounced US plans for a global missile defence shield and signed a billion-dollar nuclear contract as Russia's new President Dmitry Medvedev made his diplomatic debut.

Medvedev was in Beijing on his first visit outside the former Soviet Union since he took over on May 7 from Vladimir Putin, a destination seen as highly symbolic at a time of tension between Moscow and the West.

President Hu Jintao joined Medvedev in denouncing US plans to build a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying it "would not contribute to maintaining strategic balance and stability."

In a joint statement that did not explicitly name the United States, the two leaders said the missile shield plan "hinders international arms control and non-proliferation efforts."

The US late Friday played down the rebuff saying it reflected longstanding worries that Washington is trying to overcome.

"I would not say we are 'troubled,' I would say that we are aware of their concerns and that we are working to address them," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said when asked about Beijing's complaints.

The shield, which was approved by the Czech government on Wednesday, will defend against countries the West sees as threats such as Iran and North Korea, the US contends.

Russia, however, has been livid at what it sees as an incursion into its backyard.

Russia and China have already expressed concern over the missile shield being developed between Washington and Tokyo that began after North Korea test fired a ballistic missile over Japan in 1998.

In his meeting with Hu, Medvedev told the Chinese side that it was "very important that there are no pauses in our relationship."

"Russia and China are strategic partners. You have rightly pointed out the meaning of my first foreign trip in my capacity," he said.

Hu thanked Russia for sending medical personnel to help China after last week's earthquake, which has left more than 80,000 people dead or missing.

"I am convinced that this visit will give impetus to the development of a strategic partnership," Hu said.

The two countries signed a one-billion dollar deal for the expansion of a uranium enrichment facility in China as well as the supply of Russian uranium, said Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom.

Russia has been competing against Western nations and Japan as China tries to boost nuclear power and lessen its dependence on coal, which is blamed for China's rising pollution and proved hard to deliver in severe storms this winter.

China and Russia are veto-wielding permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, where they have been coordinating their positions on controversial issues such as the Iranian nuclear issue and Kosovan independence, which they both oppose.

Russia has also refused to join international criticism of China's human rights record in the run-up to this summer's Beijing Olympics.

However, observers note that problems persist in relations between Russia and China, which had a series of armed clashes during the Soviet era.

They are competing for Central Asia's oil and gas, which was exclusively Moscow's preserve in Soviet times.

Planned construction of an oil pipeline to energy-hungry China had become bogged down by differences between Russian state-controlled oil major Rosneft and the China National Petroleum Corp., the country's top oil producer.

There is also a quiet rivalry in defence, with some officials in Moscow reportedly worried about Beijing gaining too much access to Russian military secrets through increased arms sales to China.

In Moscow, the independent daily Kommersant wrote that the relationship with China was a "strategic sham."

In Beijing, Medvedev "basically has to talk about problems," the paper said.

Since taking office, Medvedev has refrained from openly assailing the West in the style of his mentor and predecessor Putin, who remains highly influential in the prime minister's post.

But the visit to China was meant to send a message, said analyst Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.

"This is a signal that Russia has other friends, not only the West," he said.

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