US deputy assistant secretary of state Michael Fuchs has asked all nations with territorial claims in the South China Sea to exercise restraint, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily.
The call comes in the context of a meeting between US secretary of state John Kerry and Yang Jiechi, China's state councilor, during the Sixth US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing.
Currently, the South China Sea is claimed entirely or partially by Brunei, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Standoffs between China, the Philippines and Vietnam have been a regular occurrence at the Scarborough Shoal, Second Thomas Shoal and Paracel Islands since 2012. Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, even threatened war after China agressively moved oil rigs and a military guard into disputed waters in the South China Sea in May.
Read the full story at Want China Times