Clinton comments on territorial claims, US-SKorea military drills roil U.S.-China ties

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's thinly veiled criticism of Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea has angered Beijing's leadership and quietly pleased Asian countries concerned about China's expanding military power.

Clinton spoke less than 48 hours before American and South Korean warships started high-profile military exercises in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, and the criticism is raising fears that long-dormant tensions between China and the U.S. could spike.

That would have worrying consequences for global stability, which benefits greatly from coordination between Beijing and Washington on issues like nuclear proliferation and financial stability.

Speaking Friday at an Asian security forum in Hanoi, Clinton called on China to resolve its offshore territorial disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and other regional parties through international consultations. China favors a bilateral approach because it feels that would give it more control of the outcome. Low-key attempts to resolve the disputes have gone on for years but achieved little.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing angrily characterized the Clinton comment as "an attack" and quoted Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as saying that it would only make "things worse and more difficult to resolve."

Read more: http://www.sfexaminer.com/world/clinton-comments-on-territorial-claims-us-skorea-military-drills-roil-us-china-ties-99314999.html

[brandus01]

1. embarassing

that we rely so much on the military in relations with other countries

Xu Liping, an expert on Southeast Asia at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said

“The U.S. feels like this is the time to play the political and military card since it’s very difficult for them to compete with China in the economic sphere.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/world/asia/27china.html?scp=2&sq=&st=nyt

[daleo]

2. When your best tool is a hammer

Everything starts looking like a nail.