The Chinese president has twice accepted an invitation to Washington, but the joint naval exercises between Seoul and the U.S. are creating a small diplomatic crisis. South warns North: "Enough with the provocations."

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The planned visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the United States is becoming increasingly unlikely while tensions mount between Beijing and Washington over a "misunderstanding" on the issue of national sovereignty regarding the Yellow Sea. During 2009 and 2010 on two different occasions Hu accepted an official invitation to visit the White House, but the preparations seem to have stalled.

Although both parties never announced an official date for the meeting, there was talk in diplomatic circles of September as "the right month" for the meeting. However, after joint exercises between the U.S. and South Korean Navy in the waters of the Yellow Sea, official talks appear to have been called off. Hillary Clinton’s support for Vietnamese demands of sovereignty over a group of islands also claimed by Beijing, has not helped either.

So far, said a Chinese diplomat, ",diplomats at the lower level have not completed their negotiations, and no further talks have been arranged in the coming weeks, so a visit by the president next month is highly unlikely now" The visit by a Chinese leader to America is by far the most important event in the political calendar in Beijing, but there are a number of diplomatic procedures that the two countries follow, at all levels, to avoid creating tensions.

At the moment, then, everything seems blocked. The U.S unconditional support of South Korea in the " Pyongyang question " after the sinking of the corvette Cheonan, that killed 46 South Koreans has also had an impact. The two neighbouring countries continue to provoke each other and launch accusations of a boycott. The latest occurred yesterday when the Stalinist regime fired 100 artillery rounds in the national waters of the South

Seoul responded today with an official message: "At the next provocation we will react resolutely. If North Korea continues with these provocative actions, without apologizing for the incident in Cheonan, South Korea will act vigorously".  

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