Updated December 07, 2013 08:17:46
The Chinese and Australian Foreign Ministers have traded more diplomatic blows during talks in Beijing, as their row over the East China Sea escalates.
The two country's are at odds over over China's move to declare an air defence zone which requires aircraft to provide their flight plan and declare their nationality, or face defensive emergency measures.
The new zone covers, in part, an area also claimed by Japan.
In response, Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop summoned Beijing's ambassador to voice opposition to the zone, saying the timing and the manner of China's announcement was unhelpful and would not contribute to regional stability.
But China has reacted angrily to Ms Bishop's comments, labelling them 'irresponsible' and 'mistaken'.
In another fiery meeting last night, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticised Ms Bishop face-to-face over Australia's earlier protests.
He told Ms Bishop that Canberra has 'jeopardised bilateral mutual trust' and said the general public in China are 'deeply dissatisfied' with Australia's comments.
Ms Bishop, in turn, told Wang Yi that Australia respects 'China's right to speak out on issues'.
She said she hoped China will respect Australia's right to 'speak out on actions that affect a region of critical security importance to Australia'.
Ms Bishop winds up her visit to China later today.
The move by China has also fuelled tensions with Japan since the zone covers Tokyo-controlled islands - known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China - where ships and aircraft from the two countries already shadow each other in a potentially dangerous confrontation.
Topics:international-aid-and-trade, government-and-politics, defence-and-national-security, defence-and-aerospace-industries, china, australia, japan
First posted December 07, 2013 08:05:45
Posted by Unknown on Friday, December 6, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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