China demands end of US Navy surveillance
Friday, 13 March 2009
BEIJING, Mar 1 (AP): China's Defence Ministry has demanded that the US Navy end surveillance missions off the country's southern coast following a weekend confrontation between an American vessel and Chinese ships.
In its first public comment on the Sunday episode, the ministry repeated earlier statements from the foreign ministry that the unarmed US ship was operating illegally inside China's exclusive economic zone when it was challenged by three Chinese government ships and two Chinese-flagged trawlers.
"The Chinese side's carrying out of routine enforcement and safeguarding measures within its exclusive economic zone was entirely appropriate and legal," ministry spokesman Huang Xueping said in a statement faxed overnight to reporters.
"We demand the United States respect our legal interests and security concerns, and take effective measures to prevent a recurrence of such incidents," Huang said.
Despite the sharp remarks, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met in a private meeting Wednesday in Washington DC to say the countries agreed on the need to reduce tensions and avoid a repeat of the confrontation.
But neither side yielded in their conflicting versions of events, even as they prepare for a much-anticipated first meeting between Hu and President Barack Obama at next month's Group of Twenty (G20) summit in London.
The US says that Navy mapping ship USNS Impeccable was operating legally when it was harassed by Chinese boats in international waters about 120 kilometres off China's southern island province of Hainan.
In its first public comment on the Sunday episode, the ministry repeated earlier statements from the foreign ministry that the unarmed US ship was operating illegally inside China's exclusive economic zone when it was challenged by three Chinese government ships and two Chinese-flagged trawlers.
"The Chinese side's carrying out of routine enforcement and safeguarding measures within its exclusive economic zone was entirely appropriate and legal," ministry spokesman Huang Xueping said in a statement faxed overnight to reporters.
"We demand the United States respect our legal interests and security concerns, and take effective measures to prevent a recurrence of such incidents," Huang said.
Despite the sharp remarks, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met in a private meeting Wednesday in Washington DC to say the countries agreed on the need to reduce tensions and avoid a repeat of the confrontation.
But neither side yielded in their conflicting versions of events, even as they prepare for a much-anticipated first meeting between Hu and President Barack Obama at next month's Group of Twenty (G20) summit in London.
The US says that Navy mapping ship USNS Impeccable was operating legally when it was harassed by Chinese boats in international waters about 120 kilometres off China's southern island province of Hainan.