US Pacific moves will ‘repulse’ Asians—Xinhua

BEIJING—Official Chinese media on Saturday scorned US President Barack Obama’s moves to reassert the United States’ influence in Asia, saying the region’s nations and their residents would be “repulsed”.

The commentary from the state-run Xinhua news agency came as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held previously unannounced talks with Obama after a week of sharp exchanges between the two nations during the US leader’s Pacific tour.

Obama and Wen met on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, following public spats over currency, trade and a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Xinhua said Asian suspicions would be raised by Obama’s new plan to base 2,500 US troops in Australia and by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s declaration that the 21st century will be “America’s Pacific century”.

“If the United States sticks to its Cold War mentality and continues to engage with Asian nations in a self-assertive way, it is doomed to incur repulsion in the region,” the news agency said.

On Friday, Obama hailed the summit as the top forum for settling the region’s maritime territorial disputes with China, contradicting Beijing’s desire to see such rows negotiated bilaterally.

“Many countries wonder what kind of ‘leadership’ America aspires to assume in the future. The hard fact is that the Pacific Ocean belongs to all countries sharing its shores, not just the United States,” Xinhua said.

China sees the US Pacific initiatives as intruding into its sphere of influence, and Wen warned Friday against interference by “external forces” in the territorial wrangle.

China claims all of the Wests Philippine Sea  (South China Sea), as does Taiwan, while four Southeast Asian countries declare ownership of parts of it, with Vietnam and the Philippines accusing Chinese forces of increasing aggression there.

In closing, Xinhua called upon the US “to guard against sparking disputes and encroaching on others’ interests”.

“Otherwise, the region’s stability and prosperity will become an impossible dream,” it said.