Clinton urges calm after China-Japan row at summit
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1 / 9Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd R) is followed by her staff as she arrives for meetings with other leaders at the venue of the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi October 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Damir Sagolj
By Yoko Kubota and Arshad Mohammed
HANOI | Sat Oct 30, 2010 7:48am EDT
(Reuters) - The premiers of China and Japan met at an Asian regional summit in a bid to defuse a territorial dispute on Saturday, while the United States urged Asia's two big economies to cool the standoff and proposed three-way talks.HANOI
Expectations of a bilateral talk between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan were dashed on Friday when China canceled it, blaming Japan for "damaging the atmosphere" at the Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi by raising the issue of the disputed Diaoyu islands, called Senkaku in Japanese.
A Japanese official, however, said the two leaders subsequently held an "informal" 10-minute meeting on the summit sidelines on Saturday in a seemingly positive step.
"I am confident that we can maintain a relationship in which we can cooperate in a meaningful manner," Kan told a news conference.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who met her Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in Hanoi, urged calm on both sides, and offered to host trilateral talks to bring relations back on an even keel.
"We have certainly encouraged both Japan and China to seek peaceful resolution of any disagreements," Clinton told a news conference. "It is in all of our interest for China and Japan to have stable, peaceful relations."
China and Japan have long-locked horns over sovereignty claims in the oil-and-gas rich East China Sea but such disputes have rarely damaged commercial ties between the economic giants.
Clinton, in Vietnam for the first U.S. participation in an East Asia Summit (EAS), also got assurances from China over its policy on exporting rare earth minerals that it wished to be a "reliable supplier."
"Minister Yang clarified China has no intention of withholding these minerals from the market," she said.
She said the United States, Japan, Europe and other allies would search for more sources of supply of he mineral, vital in the manufacture of various high-tech products.
"So, although we are pleased by the clarification we have received from the Chinese government, we still think that the world as a whole needs to find alternatives."
CURRENCIES, MYANMAR
With a G20 leader's summit coming up in November in which currency tension is likely to loom large, some ASEAN countries addressed the sinking value of the U.S. dollar, which has led to a sharp appreciation in the value of most of the region's currencies and eroded the competitiveness of its exports.
"The United States is looking for ways to resolve internal economic problems but the way they are doing it is affecting currencies in our region," said top Thai trade official Kiat Sitheearmorn. Export-reliant Thailand's currency, the baht, has appreciated about 11 percent over the past year.
The China-Japan row deflected attention from regional issues like upcoming polls in military-ruled Myanmar, though leaders such as Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard demanded the vote be free and called for the release of political prisoners.
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Comments
Oct 30, 2010 12:41am EDTbiztru Report As AbusiveCan one provide analysis for:
1. Rare earth reserves of each country. US has too if not mistaken;
2. Quantity mined and exported by each such countries?
The world is so huge it can’t be just China having rare earths. There are reports claiming China accounts for 97% of the world’s production when she only has 30% of the world’s reserves. Is this true? If there are rare earths outside China, maybe can ask China, which ought to have the expertise and economies of scale by now, to help those countries to extract those rare earths so that more countries can export rare earths and eliminate reliance on one country.
Also there is a need to probe whether there are traders/middlemen who hoard such earth secretly or not as well as the black market involved. General sense may indicate that there is a high possibility of these especially when one knows the value. Its like hoarding gold. Sometimes by control over an industry is to curb the black market.
Oct 30, 2010 1:31am EDTnieldevi Report As Abusive“The issue could come up again Saturday.”
What kind of reporting is that?
If you were doing an advertisement for an upcoming television drama, maybe.
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Saturday, 30 October 2010
Clinton urges calm after China-Japan row at summit | Reuters
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