China and Japan alone should resolve their dispute over contested islands in the East China Sea, Beijing said yesterday, rejecting a US offer for three-way talks to address the simmering row.
The Asian neighbors have been locked in their worst diplomatic spat for years since Tokyo arrested a Chinese trawler captain involved in a collision with two Japanese coastguard vessels near the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — known as Senkaku in Japan — in early September.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped into the fray last week at a regional summit in Vietnam, telling both sides that Washington was willing to host a trilateral meeting to ease tensions, but Beijing balked at the notion.
“I want to emphasize that this is only a US idea,” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) said in a statement.
“China always believes that we should make full use of the current various dialogue and cooperation mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region,” Ma said. “The territorial dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands is the business of the two nations only.”
Japan, China and Taiwan claim the potentially resource-rich islets, which are administered by Japan.
Clinton said in Hanoi that she had told China and Japan that the US was “more than willing to host a trilateral where we would bring Japan and China and their foreign ministers together to discuss a range of issues.”
She reiterated that invitation yesterday on a visit to Kuala Lumpur, saying it was not just about one issue.
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