U.S. President Barack Obama met with Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday, the first top-level meeting between the two
countries since the presidential election and a power transition in China.
They met at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, the third leg in
Obama's Asian tour, which hopes to foster deeper political and economic ties in
the region.
Read: Obama praises Suu Kyi
Obama was keen to put the focus on trade issues, and ignored
questions on a bitter maritime dispute that overshadowed discussions on the
first day of the summit on Monday.
He told Wen that China and the U.S. should "work to establish
clear rules of the road internationally for trade and investment which can
increase prosperity and global growth."
In return, Wen pledged to cooperate in financial and economic
matters "to tackle the difficulties we have and resolve the differences
and disagreements between us."
Both Obama and Governor Mitt Romney talked tough on China during the
presidential campaign, particularly on trade and currency disputes, although
Obama was more measured in his criticism.
Wen congratulated Obama on his re-election and sent greetings from
China's new leader Xi Jinping.
Read: Xi becomes China's new Communist Party leader
Xi will officially succeed President Hu Jintao in March after he was
selected as head of the Chinese Communist Party at last week's party congress.
Obama also met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and held
discussions with leaders from ASEAN, a grouping of 10 southeast Asian nations.
During the summit, ASEAN leaders clashed publicly about how to
handle a bitter territorial dispute in the South China Sea and what role the
U.S. should play in resolving it.
China claims sovereignty over most of the waters, which are thought
to contain oil and gas deposits, but Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei
and Taiwan have made rival territorial claims.
Read: Does Norway hold key to solving South China Sea dispute?
Cambodia's statement on Sunday that ASEAN's 10 leaders had agreed
not to "internationalize" the South China Sea dispute by limiting the
body to direct negotiations with China provoked an an angry rebuke by the
Philippines, which said there was no consensus.
Philippines President Benigno Aquino said he wanted the U.S. to get
involved in discussions, according to the Philippines Daily Inquirer.
"Our region is very diverse and its harmony can easily be
disrupted by sheer political, military, or economic might. Imbalance, as we
know, may lead to instability," he said.
"While we are all aware that the U.S. does not take sides in
disputes, they do have a strategic stake in the freedom of navigation,
unimpeded commerce, and the maintenance of peace and stability in the South
China Sea."
Alan Dupont, a professor at the University of New South Wales in
Australia, said that the while U.S. was happy to push China to the table, it
was unlikely to step directly into trying to resolve the issue.
"The U.S. is not a claimant in the South China Sea dispute but
it does have an interest in maintaining freedom of navigation," he said.
Read: Why ASEAN will stay weak
Obama and ASEAN leaders agreed to support the drafting of a regional
code of conduct to manage disputes in the sea.
China repeated its long-held position that the disputes should
resolved through "consultations and negotiations by sovereign states
directly concerned."
Dupont said that China had conceded some ground by agreeing to
discuss the dispute with ASEAN.
"But it made it clear it will do so in discussions with the
ASEAN countries and not involve other parties, specifically read in brackets
the United States," he said.
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