China tells U.S. that S. China Sea is `core interest` in new policy

WASHINGTON, July 3 Kyodo -
The Chinese government officially conveyed a new state policy to the United
States in March, telling U.S. officials that it considers the South China Sea
part of its ''core interests'' that concern China's sovereignty and territorial
integrity, sources close to the matter said Sunday.
Previously, China had only regarded Taiwan and the Tibetan and Xinjiang Uygur
autonomous regions, where separatist movements continue, as core interests
vital to its territorial integrity, rejecting any compromise in issues
concerning them.
By adding the South China Sea to its core interests, China has made clear its
determination to secure maritime interests in strategic waters that connect
Northeast Asia and the Indian Sea and are a source of territorial disputes
between China and other countries in the region.
With China becoming more active than before in the adjacent East China Sea,
especially around the Senkaku Islands -- known in China as the Diaoyutai --
friction between Japan and China over maritime interests in the waters may
intensify in the future.
China conveyed the new policy to visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James
Steinberg and Jeffrey Bader, senior director for Asian affairs on the National
Security Council, in early March, according to the sources.
The two U.S. officials met with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Chinese
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai in Beijing,
and Bingguo is believed to have relayed the policy to the U.S. side given that
he provides overall management in foreign affairs.
The United States and China engaged in a naval spat in the South China Sea in
March last year, leading to the U.S. Defense Department's formal protest that a
Chinese intelligence ship and four others shadowed and maneuvered dangerously
close to a U.S. Navy vessel on the high seas.
China responded by saying the U.S. ship was operating in China's exclusive
economic zone in violation of the relevant international and Chinese laws.
In an apparent sign that the country is intent on securing its maritime
interests and projecting force in the region and beyond, the Chinese military
is building a naval base on Hainan, an island in the South China Sea, for
nuclear submarines capable of firing ballistic missiles.
China ''apparently found it necessary to show its resolute will to preserve its
maritime interests,'' a source informed about military affairs said of the
addition of the South China Sea to China's list of core interests.
==Kyodo