Tensions between the United States and China spilled over into meetings of Asia-Pacific leaders on Friday as the two countries jostled over how to handle competing claims to the South China Sea. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao demanded that “outside forces” had no excuse to get involved in the complex maritime dispute, a veiled warning to the United States and other countries to keep out of the sensitive issue. “It ought to be resolved through friendly consultations and discussions by countries directly involved. Outside forces should not, under any pretext, get involved,” Wen told a meeting with Southeast Asian leaders, several of whose countries claim sovereignty to parts of the South China Sea.
The remark is the latest barb between the two countries in recent weeks when President Barack Obama has sought to reassert US presence in the Asia-Pacific region to counter the growing influence of China, its biggest economic rival. Obama said on Thursday that the US military would expand its Asia-Pacific role despite budget cuts, declaring America was “here to stay” as a Pacific power, while voicing, days earlier, growing frustration at China’s trade practices as he pushed for a new Asia-Pacific trade deal with some of Beijing’s neighbours.
The moves are seen as an attempt to reassert US leadership to counter China’s growing influence around the Pacific Rim and reassure allies such as South Korea and Japan that it would remain a strong counterweight. The United States wants the dispute over the South China Sea discussed on the Indonesian resort island of Bali at meetings of the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and eight regional powers, including the United States, China, Russia and Japan. Bilateral meetings are being held on Friday before a full East Asia summit on Saturday. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei are the other claimants to parts of the South China Sea, a major route that carries some $5 trillion in trade each year. The Southeast Asian countries along with the United States and Japan, are pressuring Beijing to try and seek some way forward on the knotty issue of sovereignty, which has flared up again this year with often tense maritime stand-offs.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had urged claimants earlier this week not to resort to intimidation to push their cause in the potentially rich waters, itself an indirect reference to China. In bilateral meetings on Friday, Obama said the dispute should be discussed by the regional leaders at the talks, known as the East Asia Summit, which could embolden some Southeast Asian countries with claims. China says it does not want such talks to take place and that the issue should be resolved via bilateral negotiations. Raising the issue in multilateral summit talks would not help foster East Asian co-operation, it argues.
