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US treads water in China-Japan island dispute

Other News Materials 31 October 2010 09:32 (UTC +04:00)
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a visit to China to meet State Councillor Dai Bingguo amid tensions over a Japan-China territorial dispute, officials said Sunday, dpa reported.
US treads water in China-Japan island dispute

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a visit to China to meet State Councillor Dai Bingguo amid tensions over a Japan-China territorial dispute, officials said Sunday, dpa reported.

   Clinton flew to Sanya in China's southern island province Hainan late Saturday, where she and Dai pledged to "strengthen dialogue" and "expand cooperation," China's Foreign Ministry said.

   Earlier Saturday, she met Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Hanoi. Clinton said the US could mediate between China and Japan over a disputed set of islands in the East China Sea known as Diaoyu in Chinese, and Senkaku in Japanese.

   "We have never taken a position on the sovereignty" of the islands, Clinton told reporters in Hanoi.

   Yang responded that the US should "act cautiously" and "not to make any irresponsible remarks" with regard to the dispute, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

   On Thursday, China reacted angrily after Clinton told Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara that the islands fell within the scope of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security.

   "The Diaoyu Islands have been an integral part of Chinese territory since ancient times. China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters in Beijing on Friday.

   But after the exchange in Hanoi, Clinton said China would continue to export rare earth minerals to Japan, after abruptly interrupting supplies last month when China-Japan tensions flared.

   The minerals are a crucial element in the production of many types of electronics.

   The meetings came as both sides prepare for a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama at the G20 summit in Seoul next month, and an official visit by Hu to the US early next year.

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