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Obama to Call on Beijing to Be 'Responsible' on South China Sea

by VOA News

   President Barack Obama, who arrived in China for the G-20 summit
   Saturday, plans to tell Beijing that "there will be consequences" for
   its territorial moves in contested areas of the South China Sea, he
   said in an exclusive interview with CNN to be aired Sunday.

   "If you sign a treaty that calls for international arbitration around
   maritime issues, the fact that you're bigger than the Philippines or
   Vietnam or other countries... is not a reason for you to go around and
   flex your muscles. You've got to abide by international law," Obama
   said.

   Obama said China needs to be "responsible," and that he plans to tell
   President Xi Jinping that he should look to the U.S. as an example of a
   country that maintains its power, in part, by restraining itself.

   "When we bind ourselves to a bunch of international norms and rules
   it's not because we have to, it's because we recognize that over the
   long term, building a strong international order is in our interests,"
   he said.

   Obama also mentioned fair and free trade and economic policies as areas
   in which China must improve.

   China was angered by a July decision by The Hague-based Permanent Court
   of Arbitration dismissing Beijing's territorial claims in the South
   China Sea.