"We urge the US to hold a rational and fair attitude, so as to have a constructive role in the peace and development of the region, and not the opposite," Lei said.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Danny Russel told a congressional testimony on Wednesday the United States had "growing concerns" that China's maritime claims were an effort to gain creeping control of oceans in the region.
China's claims had "created uncertainty, insecurity and instability", Russel said.
China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all claim parts of the sea that provides 10 percent of global fish catches and carries $5 trillion in ship-borne trade.
China also railed against what it called "outrageous" comments on Friday by Philippine President Benigno Aquino, who compared the maritime dispute with appeasement of Nazi Germany before World War Two.
China claims about 90 percent of the 3.5 million square km (1.35 million square miles) South China Sea, depicting what it sees as its area on maps with a so-called nine-dash line, looping far out over the sea fromsouth China.
Reuters
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_09/US-comments-on-South-China-Sea-not-constructive-Chinese-FM-8834/
9/2/14
-
-
Related:
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
New Zealand steps up protests over Japanese whalers in EEZ....
ReplyDeleteWELLINGTON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government on Monday called in the Japanese ambassador to discuss the entry of a vessel from a Japanese whaling fleet into the waters of New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said the ambassador had met with a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade official who conveyed New Zealand's deep disappointment at the vessel's entry into the EEZ.
The New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo last week had clearly expressed the government did not want Japanese whaling ships entering the EEZ, but the wishes were ignored on Friday and the ministry had called in the most senior representative present at the Japanese Embassy in Wellington, the deputy head of mission, McCully said in a statement.
"Today's meeting with the ambassador served to further reiterate how deeply disrespectful the vessel's entry into our EEZ was," he said.
"New Zealand's strong opposition to Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean is well known and further action may be taken."
The anti-whaling group, Sea Shepherd, reported last week that the Japanese vessel Shonan Maru No. 2 with Japanese Coast Guard personnel aboard had entered New Zealand's EEZ while tailing the Sea Shepherd ship, the Steve Irwin.
McCully said on Sunday that the Japanese whalers' decision to ignore New Zealand's strong wishes had no legal implications, but "clearly it was deeply disrespectful."
http://english.cntv.cn/20140210/102367.shtml
10/2/14
China, Taiwan to hold first official talks in 65 years....
ReplyDeleteNANJING — China and Taiwan on Tuesday will hold their highest-level talks since their acrimonious split 65 years ago—a symbolic yet historic move that marks the first official contact between the former bitter rivals.
The Taiwanese government’s Wang Yu-chi, who oversees the island’s China policy, will meet his Chinese counterpart Zhang Zhijun for talks set to last until February 14.
The meeting in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing is the fruit of years of efforts to normalise relations and will be the highest-level interaction since their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
That year, two million supporters of the nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan—officially known as Republic of China—after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists.
Ever since, the island and the mainland have been governed separately, both claiming to be the true government of China, only re-establishing contact in the 1990s through quasi-official organizations.
While no official agenda has been released for the talks—widely seen as a symbolic, confidence-building exercise—Taiwan’s Wang last month said they had “crucial implications for further institutionalisation of ties between the two sides”.
Taiwan is likely to focus on reaping practical outcomes from the talks, such as securing economic benefits or security assurances, while China has one eye on long-term integration of the island, analysts say.
Beijing views Taiwan as a rebel region awaiting reunification with the mainland, and has repeatedly refused to renounce the possibility of using force to take back the island if necessary.
The current political thaw of a decades-long stalemate comes after the two sides have made cautious steps towards economic reconciliation in recent years..............http://www.japantoday.com/category/world/view/china-taiwan-to-hold-first-official-talks-in-65-years
11/2/14
Historisches Treffen:China und Taiwan suchen Annäherung.....
DeleteZum ersten Mal seit 1949 haben sich offizielle Regierungsvertreter von China und Taiwan getroffen. Es werden ein neues Kapitel in den Beziehungen der beiden Länder aufgeschlagen, sagte Taiwans Minister für Festlandfragen, Wang Yu-chi. Pekings Vizeaußenminister Zhang Zhijun äußerte die Hoffnung, dass beide Seiten künftig ihre Beziehungen normalisieren könnten.
Von Ruth Kirchner, ARD-Hörfunkstudio Peking
Die Regierung in Peking betrachtet das quasi unabhängige und demokratische Taiwan als "abtrünnige Provinz" und hat in der Vergangenheit gedroht, die Insel notfalls auch mit militärischen Mitteln zurückzuholen. Doch seit einiger Zeit herrscht Tauwetter............http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/taiwan-china100.html
11/2/14
Australia backs South China Sea code of conduct...
ReplyDeleteMANILA — Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop yesterday voiced her support for the completion of a code of conduct aimed at reducing tensions in the South China Sea and urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to play a more active role in ensuring a peaceful resolution to the territorial disputes in the area.
China claims almost the whole of the vast South China Sea, which is believed to have significant oil and gas deposits. Beijing has been increasingly assertive in pressing its claims in the sea against its smaller neighbours, sending navy ships into contested waters and harassing fishing fleets of nations with rival claims.
China and several Asian countries, including ASEAN members the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. The territorial disputes have long been feared as Asia’s next potential flashpoint for a major armed conflict.
“We believe that there should be consultation, there should be dialogue and, in the case of the South China Sea, we support ASEAN’s objectives in concluding a code of conduct with China and we hope there will be some early progress on that code of conduct,” said Ms Bishop, who was in the Philippines on an official visit.
“We urge all sides not to escalate tensions,” she added in a joint press conference in Manila with her Philippine counterpart, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario...............http://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/australia-backs-south-china-sea-code-conduct
21/2/14