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             Clinton to Push South China Sea Issue in Beijing Talks

   by VOA News

   U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is headed to Beijing, where she
   has promised to take a strong message to Chinese leaders on the issue
   of resolving territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
   Clinton wants China to work with the Association of Southeast Asian
   Nations on a code of conduct for managing the disputes, in hopes of
   preventing continued flare-ups in the resource-rich region. Beijing,
   which claims nearly the entire sea, has resisted signing such a code.
   It instead prefers to deal individually with rival claimants, which
   include Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
   Before leaving Indonesia for China Tuesday, Clinton said Southeast
   Asian nations must present a unified front in dealing with the disputes
   in order to "literally calm the waters." She made her comments
   following meetings in Jakarta with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
   Yudhoyono and ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan.
   Clinton will hold two days of talks with senior Chinese leaders, who
   have so far rejected U.S. involvement in the maritime disputes. The
   Global Times, a Communist Party paper, on Tuesday warned that
   Washington has caused frictions between China and its neighbors.
   Ralph Cossa, a security analyst at the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum, says
   there is little chance that an all-out armed conflict will erupt. But
   he says progress on a code of conduct is not likely, either.
   "I am very pessimistic that a meaningful code of conduct will be
   established," he said. "There may at some point be something that's
   called a 'code,' but I doubt that it will have any verification or
   enforcement mechanisms. And without that, it will be just another piece
   of paper that people will violate."
   Washington has said it does not take sides in the sea disputes, but has
   recently criticized Beijing for establishing an army garrison in a
   disputed part of the South China Sea. On Monday, Clinton did not
   criticize China directly, but said "no party should take any steps that
   would increase tensions or do anything that would be viewed as coercive
   or intimidating."
   Clinton is in the middle of a six-nation Asian tour, her third to the
   region since May, as she helps implement Washington's strategic "pivot"
   toward the Pacific. It could be her last visit to China as secretary of
   state, as she has said she plans to step down after serving under
   President Obama during his entire first term in office.
   Clinton's talks in China are also expected to be focused on human
   rights, as well as several other international issues, including the
   Syrian crisis and the Iranian nuclear program. Her last visit to China
   was overshadowed by the plight of Chinese dissident lawyer Chen
   Guangcheng, who took refuge in the U.S. embassy, and later fled to the
   United States, after reporting abuses while under house arrest.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/clinton-to-push-south-china-issue-in-
   beijing-talks/1501149.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/clinton-to-push-south-china-issue-in-beijing-talks/1501149.html