China wants to cooperate with US in Asia

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 19 (AFP): China wants to cooperate with the United States in the Asian region, assistant foreign minister Liu Zhenmin said Saturday in positive comments after a week of wrangles. "We are looking forward to cooperating with the US in the region and at the EAS," Liu told reporters on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, when asked about Washington's new focus on Asia which has irked Beijing in recent days. Earlier Saturday, US President Barack Obama prodded China's Premier Wen Jiabao on maritime territorial rows and economic wrangles amid signs of Chinese scorn for his Pacific diplomacy push. Among other issues, Obama mentioned the South China Sea territorial disputes at the two-way talks, US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said. Washington wanted to discuss the dispute in general terms at the summit, but China says the issue should be confined to talks between the claimant nations and that other countries should not interfere. Liu said the issue should be "resolved directly among concerned parties through negotiation," referring to China's preference to dealing individually with its smaller neighbours. Donilon said the United States had an interest in ensuring freedom of movement in the strategic waters. "The United States has an interest in the freedom of navigation, the free flow of commerce, a peaceful resolution of disputes (but) we don't have a claim, we don't take sides in the claims," he said. Liu defended Beijing's handling of the South China Sea, after allegations it has become more aggressive in asserting its claims in recent times. "China has continued to allow that freedom of navigation in the region," he said, adding that his country was willing to start discussing with Southeast Asian nations a legally binding code of conduct for the area. "China believes in freedom of navigation in the South China Sea (which) has not been affected," he added. "Over the decade, over the century it has been maintained as a very important route for international trade not only for Southeast Asian countries, Northeast Asian countries but also for the international community." China claims all of the South China Sea, as does Taiwan, while four Southeast Asian countries declare ownership of parts of it, with Vietnam and the Philippines accusing Chinese forces of harassing their vessels. The region is a conduit for more than one-third of the world's seaborne trade and half its traffic in oil and gas, and major petroleum deposits are believed to lie below the seabed.