WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a veiled warning Friday to China not to challenge Japan's control of disputed islands as Tokyo's new government vowed not to aggravate tensions. Beijing viewed the US position on the island dispute as a “betrayal,” and defiantly entered the Japanese territorial waters around disputed islands hours after the veiled warning. On Friday Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with Clinton on the first trip by a top Japanese official since Japan's conservatives returned to power last month. Clinton announced that Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet President Barack Obama at the White House in the third week of February, who is eager to make an early trip to Washington to underscore his desire to make the US alliance the cornerstone of his foreign policy. Amid signs that China is testing control over virtually uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, Clinton said the area was under Japan's control and hence protected under a US security treaty with Tokyo. “We oppose any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japanese administration,” Clinton told a joint news conference with Kishida. Clinton did not mention Beijing directly in the warning, but said: “We want to see China and Japan resolve this matter peacefully through dialogue.” “We do not want to see any action taken by anyone that could raise tensions or result in miscalculation that would undermine the peace, security and economic growth in this region,” she said. The United States insists it is neutral on the ultimate sovereignty of the islands -- known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese -- but that they are under the de facto administration of Japan. China has repeatedly criticized the US position. Chinese surveillance ships and state-owned planes have increasingly neared the area, in what some see as a bid by Beijing to contest the notion that Japan holds effective control. “The frequency and scale of their provocations have drastically increased,” Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Masaru Sato told reporters in Washington. “The Chinese are trying to change the existing order by coercion or intimidation,” he said. US warnings to Beijing not to challenge Japan's control of disputed islands encouraged Tokyo's “dangerously right-leaning” government and “betrayed” Washington's vow of neutrality, Chinese state media said Saturday. But in a commentary piece, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua criticised Washington's position, saying it “cast doubts on (US) credibility as a responsible power in the region”. It was “unwise” for Washington “to throw support behind Japan in Tokyo's islands dispute with Beijing”, Xinhua said, adding: “This unbalanced position has betrayed its declared intention to stay neutral on the issue.” The US proposal for “tighter military alliance with Japan will only encourage Tokyo's dangerously right-leaning tendency”, Xinhua said. Three Chinese government surveillance vessels sailed in waters around the disputed islands Saturday for nearly five hours but had all left Japanese waters by 1:52 pm (0452 GMT), the Japan coastguard said. China has repeatedly sailed into the waters since Japan nationalised the chain in September, a move that triggered anger and demonstrations in China. China has persistently criticised the US position and the sending of maritime surveillance ships to the potentially gas-rich area is seen by experts as a way to contest the notion that Japan holds effective control. – Agencies
