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China Denies U.S. Version Of Kerry's Remarks To Foreign Minister
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to the media at the State Department in Washington, May 13, 2014. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
14/05/2014
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry did not refer to "provocative" action by Beijing in the South China Sea while holding a telephone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
"In fact, U.S. Secretary of State Kerry made no such comments during the phone conversation," China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying told the official Xinhua news agency late on Tuesday.
Kerry's message during the phone talks was that the United States does not take sides in the South China Sea dispute, and has no intention to make any judgment on the issue of territorial sovereignty, Xinhua said.
Tensions rose last week after China moved a giant oil rig into an area also claimed by Vietnam. Each country accused the other of ramming its ships near the disputed Paracel Islands.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
"He (Kerry) said China's introduction of an oil rig and numerous government vessels in waters disputed with Vietnam was provocative," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington, referring to the telephone call.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in BEIJING,; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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