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China warns US against interfering in South China Sea issue
Ahead of President Barack Obama's meeting with ASEAN leaders in New York on Friday, China today warned the US against meddling in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea on behalf of its Asian allies.
Ahead of President Barack Obama's meeting with ASEAN leaders in New York on Friday, China today warned the US against meddling in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea on behalf of its Asian allies.
"We firmly oppose any country having nothing to do with the South China Sea issue getting involved in the dispute," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a media briefing in Beijing.
She stated this in response to a question on Obama's upcoming meeting with ASEAN leaders in New York and possibility of a joint statement concerning the South China Sea issue involving China.
Recently, China resented US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks calling on Beijing to solve its disputes over a host of islands with several countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Philippines. She also asserted that the US had its own national interest as it involved freedom of navigation.
China opposes the internationalisation of the maritime issues, especially in South China Sea, Jiang said, adding the US intervention will only complicate rather than help solve the issue.
Her remarks came as Japan staved off heavy pressure from China over the fortnight-long detention of the captain of a Chinese fishing trawler by Tokyo on the ground that his vessel collided with and damaged Japanese Coast Guard boats off the Diaoyu islands, called Senkaku islands by Japan.
The islands administered by Japan are also claimed by China and Taiwan.
China, which put off all its contacts at various levels with Japan, has also made preparations to drill the Chunxiao oil and gas field in retaliation, over which Japan claims its right as well.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has already said Japan would take counter measures if Beijing went ahead with its plans to resume the drilling.
