US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel answers reporters' question during a news conference after a meeting with South Korea's senior officials at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul March 17, 2015. (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)
(VOVworld) - US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Daniel Russel has warned that the freedom of air and maritime navigation in the East Sea is being threatened.
Russel made the warning at a press conference in Washington on Friday featuring the upcoming annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the US and China.
Russel said at the 3-day meeting which will open next Monday, the two countries will discuss a series of issues on economics, security, and people-to-people exchange.
According to Russel, high on the agenda of the dialogue, which will be participated by high-ranking diplomats and military officials, will be hackers, aerospace, aviation, and maritime navigation, the most complicated and controversial matters for both nations.
Regarding the confrontation possibilities in the East Sea between the US and China, Russel reiterated the US’s unwavering determination to avoid military confrontation, including with China."
He noted that maritime disputes in the East Sea were not a matter between Washington and Beijing but between China and other sovereignty claimants.
Russel said ‘there are a couple of principles. Here that’s the principle of good relations. We want China to have good relations with all its neighbors as well as with us. The principle of freedom of navigation, freedom of over-flight is indeed as stated here.’
Russel said China’s decision to continue to build facilities in the outposts that China has constructed in the East Sea is causing headache for not only the US but regional countries and escalating the tension.
Russel underscored principles that parties concerned should abide by to address conflicts peacefully and called on them to respect international law including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
On Thursday, Russia hosted the second international seminar on security and cooperation in the East Sea, actual problems and conflict resolution.
Professor, Doctor of Science Dmitri Mosyakov, acting Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the theme and contents of the seminar were very important and urgent as the situation in the East Sea remains tense and unstable.
He said sovereignty conflicts in the East Sea should be resolved by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and other reached agreements.