China and its armed forces have the "confidence, capability"
and unwavering determination to defend the Diaoyu Islands, the defence ministry
said yesterday.
A think-tank member visiting
Beijing also warned that the frequent defence collaboration of the US-Japan
alliance has strained the atmosphere of the Asia-Pacific region, and the
weakened strategic mutual trust of the US-Japan-China trilateral ties is in
"desperate need" of crisis management.
Defence Ministry spokesman Geng
Yansheng said at a monthly news conference that the Chinese military is closely
watching Japan's moves. "We are against any words or deeds that would
escalate or complicate the situation," he said.
While commenting on a recent
US-Japan joint island drill in the western Pacific Ocean that reportedly
"targets China", Geng said Beijing firmly opposes any deeds that may
increase tension in the region.
Safeguarding the security, peace,
and prosperity in the region is in everyone's interests, Geng said.
Cai Yingting, deputy chief of the
General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, also reiterated China's
stance over the Diaoyu Islands during his recent visit to the US.
During a Wednesday news briefing,
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland was asked whether the US
supports Japan's rival territorial claim over the Diaoyu Islands, which belong
to China.
Nuland said that the US does not
have a position on the sovereignty of the islands, yet she reiterated that the
US see the islands "falling under the scope" of Article 5 of the 1960
US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, a defence pact that
promises Washington's needed support to help Japan protect its
"territory".
Geng also confirmed that US
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta will visit China in mid-September, but did not
provide the exact date.
Observers stressed the possible
influence of Panetta's visit to the tensed situation in the East China Sea.
Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, a
researcher and the North East Asia project director of the think tank
International Crisis Group, showed concern over the vulnerability of Sino-US
strategic mutual trust in addition to the mistrust between China and Japan.
"As its relationship with
China entered an uncertain period, Japan sought to strengthen ties with the
United States, feuelling anxiety in Beijing that the US-Japan alliance could be
an effort to contain China's growing power," she said in a seminar co-hosted
by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Tokyo Foundation.
She also warned the increasingly
dangerous role of nationalist moods in shaping foreign policies of both China
and Japan in recent incidents concerning the Diaoyu Islands.
Akio Takahara, a professor of
contemporary Chinese politics at the University of Tokyo, warned that the
nationalist mood "has gathered momentum" in all three countries.
"Reining in the irrational
mood is a major common task for the three countries," Takahara said.
Also at the news conference, Geng
refuted the accusation of an article published by The Washington Post on August
26, which said China's surging exports of cheap assault rifles and ammunition
to sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade fuelled regional military conflicts
there.
Geng said China's arms export
volume is "very limited compared with US", and China strictly follows
relevant UN treaties and established a comprehensive legal and management
system for arms exports.
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