BEIJING: The United States hopes that tentative diplomatic engagement between China and Japan amid their dispute over a group of islands in the East China Sea is successful as escalation is in nobody’s interest, a senior US diplomat said yesterday.
Ties between the world’s second- and third-biggest economies have been strained over the uninhabited islets, controlled by Japan but claimed by both countries. The isles are known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.
Aircraft and ships from the two countries have played cat-and-mouse in the vicinity of the islands, raising fears of conflict, perhaps sparked by an accident.
Speaking after a tour of the region, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel said the world did not want the spat to get out of hand.
Global interest in economic stability, Russel told a news conference, was “too strong for the world’s second and third-largest economies to remain at odds.
“We hope that leaders on all sides will exercise restraint and sensitivity and will consistently pursue diplomatic and friendly moves to manage disputes or resolve outstanding issues,” he said.
“It is of great concern to the US, as it is to all countries that rely on maritime corridors, that there is any risk of an incident that could lead to a crisis or lead to an escalation,” he said.
“We hope that quiet diplomatic engagement between Japan and China bears fruit, and we note with interest that Prime Minister Abe and President Xi Jinping had some form of encounter or conversation in St. Petersburg,” Russel added, referring to the brief meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit earlier this month.
REUTERS
