US island position betrayal of neutrality vow

China has denounced the US stance on the islands disputed by Beijing and Tokyo, calling it a ‘betrayal’ of Washington’s vow of neutrality on the issue.

Xinhua said Saturday that Washington’s indirect warning to Beijing not to challenge “the Japanese administration” over the disputed islands encouraged Tokyo’s “dangerously right-leaning” government and “betrayed” the US pledge to stay neutral on the issue.

On January 17, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a veiled warning to China, insisting that the islands located in the East China Sea was under Japan’s control and thus protected under an American security treaty with Tokyo.

This is while the US has insisted that it is neutral on the sovereignty of the islands — known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese — but that they are under the de facto control of Japan.

In a commentary piece, the news agency said it was “unwise” for Washington “to throw support behind Japan in the islands dispute with Beijing.”

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This unbalanced position has betrayed its declared intention to stay neutral on the issue.”

Qin Gang, spokesman of Chinese Foreign Ministry, was also quoted as saying that Beijing “has always advocated to resolve issues between relevant countries through bilateral dialogue and by peaceful means.”

Japan and China have long been in a dispute over the sovereignty of the islands, which would give the owner exclusive oil, mineral and fishing rights in the surrounding waters.

China presented the United Nations with a detailed explanation of its sovereignty over the disputed islands based on certain geological features in December 2012.