Hillary Clinton in Beijing to reduce tensions over the South China Sea
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Talks between China and the United States today in Beijing were dominated by the controversy over the South China Sea. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Chinese President Hu Jintao, but unexpectedly and without explanations, her meeting with China's next leader, Vice-President Xi Jinping, was cancelled. Today's talks also focused on the war in Syria and the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea, which remain of great concern to the international community.
Hillary Clinton is in China at the midpoint of an 11-day, six-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific region that started in the Cook Islands and Indonesia. After she leaves China, she will visit East Timor and Brunei before heading to Russia's Far East to represent the United States at the annual meeting of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vladivostock.
Ms Clinton said the US-China relationship was mature enough and on a "solid basis" to tackle areas of disagreement, including tensions in the South China Sea.
However, Chinese state media hit out at US involvement in maritime disputes, accusing Washington of interfering in affairs that are none of its concern.
Both countries are at a crossroads with looming high-level leadership changes in Beijing from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping, and the presidential race in the US.
At the last moment, China's future leader scrapped a meeting with Clinton, the prime minister of Singapore and a Russian official set for today. No reasons for the cancellations were given. Chinese government sources downplayed the matter, asking for an end to idle speculation.
On the issue of maritime borders in the South China Sea, the United States wants China and the other claimants to adopt a binding code of conduct for the region, along with a process to resolve maritime disputes without coercion, intimidation or the use of force.
For this reason, Clinton has encouraged the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) to adopt a common stance and put behind them the divisions that emerged during their last summit because of Cambodia's pro-Beijing policy.
By contrast, Beijing hopes the United States would be neutral and "do more to promote regional peace and stability".
China's media has instead taken a harder line. An editorial in the People's Daily said that the "United States' recent conduct [. . .] cannot but create the suspicion that it is attempting to sow discord in order to fish for advantage."
The Spratly and Paracel Islands, two groups of atolls in the South China Sea, are claimed by China, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia. They are thought to have great potential for oil and gas.
In the past, Manila and Hanoi had slammed Beijing's aggressive and imperialistic stance on the matter. Recent incidents involving fishing boats from all three nations show how sensitive the issue is.
In the case of Manila and Beijing, tensions rose in April when Chinese patrol boats stopped Filipino Navy ships off the Scarborough Shoal to prevent them from stopping Chinese trawlers that strayed into waters claimed by the Philippines.
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10/10/2016 14:47
