DesiGuy
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HANOI, Vietnam The United States and China sought to defuse tensions over disputed territorial seas on Tuesday, with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urging nations to honor historic rights of free transit through international waters and his Chinese counterpart saying the region has nothing to fear from Beijings armed forces.
The statement by Mr. Gates to a forum of Asian defense ministers was emphatic in calling on all countries that share the South China Sea to renounce threats or coercion in resolving their competing claims of sovereignty.
But he was equally diplomatic in not specifically naming China as the perceived aggressor in disputes over transit lanes, fishing rights, territory and undersea resources that have roiled relations with several neighbors, in particular Japan and Vietnam. In one recent round of the continuing disagreements, China for the past three weeks has cut off shipments to Japan of rare earth minerals, crucial to that countrys auto, electronics and clean energy industries.
Beijings delegation also spoke in measured terms, emphasizing that Chinas military growth was not a threat. Chinas message, while delivered in broad, nonspecific terms, was interpreted as representing an effort to calm concerns over Beijings maritime intentions.
Even so, no fewer than seven nations in attendance raised the issue of how to guarantee maritime security for all nations sharing the South China Sea.
We have a national interest in freedom of navigation, in unimpeded economic development and commerce, and in respect for international law, Mr. Gates told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was meeting in an expanded forum that also included China and Russia.
Although Mr. Gates warned that disputes over the oceans and their resources are a growing challenge to regional stability and prosperity, he also noted that the United States does not take sides on competing territorial claims, such as those in the South China Sea.
The central theme of his comments was that competing claims should be settled peacefully, without force or coercion, through collaborative diplomatic processes and in keeping with customary international law. In a balanced tone he has sustained during his three-day visit to Vietnam, Mr. Gates reassured regional partners of U.S. support for international law even as he defused tensions with China. On Monday, officials from China invited Mr. Gates to visit Beijing.
The United States has always exercised our rights and supported the rights of others to transit through, and operate in, international waters, Mr. Gates said. This will not change, nor will our commitment to engage in exercises and activities together with our allies and partners.
Beijings representative to the conference, Gen. Liang Guanglie, the Chinese defense minister, called for mutual trust throughout the region, and said neighbors need not fear his nations military.
Chinas defense development is not aimed to challenge or threaten anyone, but to ensure its security and promote international and regional peace and stability, he said. China pursues a defense policy that is defensive in nature.
U.S. officials who track Chinese public statements noted that the defense minister did not describe the South China Sea as a region of its core interests, as China has in the past. A senior U.S. Defense Department official said following the Chinese statement that the U.S. delegation felt encouraged by the dialogue, and that a sense of crisis over feuding territorial claims had diminished.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/world/asia/13gates.html
The statement by Mr. Gates to a forum of Asian defense ministers was emphatic in calling on all countries that share the South China Sea to renounce threats or coercion in resolving their competing claims of sovereignty.
But he was equally diplomatic in not specifically naming China as the perceived aggressor in disputes over transit lanes, fishing rights, territory and undersea resources that have roiled relations with several neighbors, in particular Japan and Vietnam. In one recent round of the continuing disagreements, China for the past three weeks has cut off shipments to Japan of rare earth minerals, crucial to that countrys auto, electronics and clean energy industries.
Beijings delegation also spoke in measured terms, emphasizing that Chinas military growth was not a threat. Chinas message, while delivered in broad, nonspecific terms, was interpreted as representing an effort to calm concerns over Beijings maritime intentions.
Even so, no fewer than seven nations in attendance raised the issue of how to guarantee maritime security for all nations sharing the South China Sea.
We have a national interest in freedom of navigation, in unimpeded economic development and commerce, and in respect for international law, Mr. Gates told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was meeting in an expanded forum that also included China and Russia.
Although Mr. Gates warned that disputes over the oceans and their resources are a growing challenge to regional stability and prosperity, he also noted that the United States does not take sides on competing territorial claims, such as those in the South China Sea.
The central theme of his comments was that competing claims should be settled peacefully, without force or coercion, through collaborative diplomatic processes and in keeping with customary international law. In a balanced tone he has sustained during his three-day visit to Vietnam, Mr. Gates reassured regional partners of U.S. support for international law even as he defused tensions with China. On Monday, officials from China invited Mr. Gates to visit Beijing.
The United States has always exercised our rights and supported the rights of others to transit through, and operate in, international waters, Mr. Gates said. This will not change, nor will our commitment to engage in exercises and activities together with our allies and partners.
Beijings representative to the conference, Gen. Liang Guanglie, the Chinese defense minister, called for mutual trust throughout the region, and said neighbors need not fear his nations military.
Chinas defense development is not aimed to challenge or threaten anyone, but to ensure its security and promote international and regional peace and stability, he said. China pursues a defense policy that is defensive in nature.
U.S. officials who track Chinese public statements noted that the defense minister did not describe the South China Sea as a region of its core interests, as China has in the past. A senior U.S. Defense Department official said following the Chinese statement that the U.S. delegation felt encouraged by the dialogue, and that a sense of crisis over feuding territorial claims had diminished.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/world/asia/13gates.html
