China reserves the right to take further action over a territorial
dispute with Japan but hopes to see it resolved peacefully, Chinese Defence
Minister Liang Guanglie told a press conference after talks with American
counterpart Leon Panetta amid the worst Sino-Japan tensions in decades.
Fears of armed hostilities in the
region have grown along with the deterioration of ties between the two East
Asian giants, after Tokyo moved last week to buy and nationalise a group of
isles it calls Senkaku. China also claims these isles, which it calls Diaoyu.
Eleven Chinese patrol ships
entered waters around the Japan-administered island group yesterday, after two
Japanese activists set foot on one of the isles.
"We're very concerned about
how the situation develops and reserve the right to take further action,"
said General Liang, in his first public comments on the escalating spat. But
China still hopes to resolve the spat through peaceful negotiation, he said
yesterday, the 81st anniversary of a railway bombing used by Japan as a pretext
to invade Manchuria.
Anger against Japan continued to
be vented in cities across China, with some Japanese businesses closing shop to
avoid trouble.
Japan's Fast Retailing covered up
the signs of its Uniqlo clothing store at Beijing's popular Sanlitun area and
shut some 19 outlets yesterday. Nearly 200 stores under the 7-11 chain also
closed.
US Defence Secretary Panetta, who
was in Tokyo before Beijing, called for both sides to keep calm and keep
communication channels open. He also urged Beijing to boost military contact
with the US to deepen trust and reduce the risk of conflict.
"Our goal is to have the
United States and China establish the most important bilateral relationship in
the world, and the key to that is to establish a strong military-to-military
relationship," said Panetta, who meets Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping
today.
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