US, China meet on rising sea tensions

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Breitbart:

The United States and China were holding first-of-a-kind talks Saturday on rising tensions in the South China Sea, with Beijing angry over Washington's support of Southeast Asian countries.

Senior officials of the Pacific powers were meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, days after the United States rallied behind the Philippines and Vietnam which have been alarmed at what they see as Beijing's growing assertiveness at sea.

Kurt Campbell, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said ahead of the talks that he would make clear to China the "strong principles" of the United States in defense of freedom of navigation.

"We want recent tensions to subside and cooler heads to prevail," Campbell told reporters in Washington on Friday.

Campbell reiterated that the United States takes no stance on China's territorial disputes with its neighbors -- a point of contention for some US lawmakers who have been pressing for a more proactive role.

"The United States has no intention to fan the flames in the South China Sea and we have a very strong interest in the maintenance of peace and stability," Campbell said.

But China's top official at the Hawaii talks, vice foreign minister Cui Tiankai, warned that US support of its partners in Southeast Asia "can only make things more complicated."

"I believe some countries now are playing with fire. And I hope the US won't be burned by this fire," Cui said, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal.
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Obama would say it wasn't a fire, but something like "Kinetic warmth..."