Chinese Irked By US Comments On Islands Dispute

Rising tension between Washington and Beijing was reflected in the angry response by the Chinese media and government to Secretary of State Clinton's musings about possible US mediation of the ongoing regional dispute over ownership of over 250 small islands located in the South China Sea.

The Chinese government reacted angrily on Monday to an announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that Washington might step into a long-simmering territorial dispute between China and its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea.

Speaking Friday during a forum of Southeast Asian countries in Vietnam, Mrs. Clinton apparently surprised Beijing by saying the United States had a “national interest” in seeking to mediate the dispute, which involves roughly 200 islands, islets and coral outcroppings that are claimed by China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi of China warned the United States against wading into the conflict, saying it would increase regional tensions.

“What will be the consequences if this issue is turned into an international or multilateral one?” he asked in remarks published on the Foreign Ministry’s Web site. “It will only make matters worse and the resolution more difficult.”

The state-run news media were far less diplomatic, describing Mrs. Clinton’s speech as “an attack” and a cynical effort to suppress China’s aspirations — and its expanding might.

“America hopes to contain a China with growing military capabilities,” ran an editorial Monday in the Communist Party-run People’s Daily newspaper.

Global Times, an English-language tabloid published by People’s Daily, said, “China will never waive its right to protect its core interest with military means.”

By: Shelldrake