Clinton presses China on territory disputes

Associated Press

SANYA, China

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday made a rare visit by an American official to a Chinese island once a flash point in relations between the powers and pressed Beijing to settle territorial disputes with its smaller, wary neighbors.

The Obama administration’s top diplomat also urged Chinese officials to use their influence with North Korea to keep the communist country from taking any provocative actions that might disrupt a summit of world leaders set for South Korea next month.

Clinton’s main goal, though, was to seek Chinese help in lowering tensions across East Asia, and she proposed hosting a three-way meeting of the U.S., China and Japan to ease the latest regional flare-up: competing claims by China and Japan over East China Sea islands, a dispute that has soured ties between Beijing and Tokyo.

She conveyed the messages in a private meeting with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo on Hainan Island just hours after similar talks in Vietnam with Chinese Foreign Minster Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of a summit of East Asian leaders.

“It is in all of our interests for China and Japan to have stable and peaceful relations,” Clinton told reporters Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital. The U.S., she said, is “more than willing” to host trilateral talks “where we would discuss a range of issues.”