The US and China should settle their differences ‘in a proper way’ and not resort to ‘microphone diplomacy,’ a senior Chinese diplomat has said. The US is irritated by Chinese land reclamation in the South China Sea and accuses Beijing of hacking.
Changing the way the two countries deal with their conflict
points would secure a successful visit by President Xi Jinping to
the US this year, Wu Xi, deputy chief of mission at the Chinese
embassy in Washington said.
“Resorting to microphone diplomacy, or pointing fingers at
each other, will not solve any problems,” Wu told a meeting
on Capitol Hill to mark the 10th anniversary of the US Congress’s
US-China Working Group.
“The right choice is to recognize our differences, respect
each other and engage in real dialogue,” she added. “The
choice we make today will decide the future of our two great
nations, as well as the entire world.”
“We need to address our differences in a proper way,”
she told the media.
Wu was referring to the tensions between US and China over its
increasing presence in the contested region of the South China
Sea near the Spratly Islands. Beijing claims sovereignty over the
area in contradiction with several other nations, including key
US allies in the region.
Supporting its presence in the region, China has reclaimed some
2,000 acres of land in the South China Sea over the last 18
months, converting submerged reefs and rocks into new islands on
an industrial scale. Other players such as the Philippines and
Vietnam did the same, although at a much slower pace. The new
Chinese Islands host harbors, piers and even airfields, including
a 3-kilometer runway capable of handling any aircraft the Chinese
military have in service.
Washington sees such moves as “out of step,” citing Defense
Secretary Ashton Carter. Its regional allies sometimes use
stronger words. The president of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino
III, compared Beijing’s land reclamation with the annexation of
Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany in a speech this month.
READ MORE: Beijing rejects US criticism over
construction in South China Sea
Another point of
controversy between China and US is allegedly Beijing-sponsored
hacker attacks on American targets. China denies Washington’s
allegations that it uses cyber-attacks to further its
goals.
Beijing insists that the US should pay more respect to it as
befits the world’s now largest economy and a dominant power in
Asia. Not engaging is not an option for the two superpowers,
Chinese diplomats say.
“We have no alternative but to succeed in the interests of
our two nations and the world,” Wu said in Washington.
Washington has been responding to China’s rise in military power
by strengthening military cooperation with regional players like
Japan, South Korea and Australia.
But even in those countries some officials support China’s claim
on the contested islands, as an Australian senator demonstrated
this week.
“I think China does have some valid claims given the history.
But we don’t live in history. Moving forward, whoever has the
most power at the time will be the most successful in making
claims,” Dio Wang, a Chinese-born Australian politician,
said in an interview.
Wang, a former mining executive who emigrated to Australia in
2003, is a member of the small but influential Palmer United
Party created by mining businessman Clive Palmer. Small parties
have a strong presence in the Australian parliament’s upper
chamber, while Prime Minister Tony Abbot, who supports the US in
its conflict with China, doesn’t have control over the chamber.