China decries US involvement

CHINA: China on Tuesday denounced US efforts to help in improving relations between Beijing and Tokyo which have been poisoned by a spat over a group of disputed islands, saying the argument was strictly bilateral.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who met her Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in Hanoi last week, urged calm on both sides, and offered to host trilateral talks to bring relations back on an even keel.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said that this was only "a US idea", adding that it was "totally wrong" to include the disputed islands in any US-Japan defence agreements.

Beijing, Tuesday, Reuters