US accused of bias as tensions rise

The United States is intentionally adopting a biased position regarding tensions between China and Vietnam, an observer said on Friday.

The comment came after US Vice-President Joe Biden told visiting People's Liberation Army Chief of General Staff Fang Fenghui on Thursday the US was seriously concerned about what he described as China's "unilateral" actions in positioning an oil rig in the South China Sea.

An unnamed senior US official told Reuters that Biden and other top US officials told Fang that Beijing's maritime behavior was dangerous and provocative and must stop.

Fang said the rig was well inside Chinese territorial waters and "we cannot afford to lose an inch" of that territory.

Zhao Xiaozhuo, deputy director of the Center for China-US Defense Relations at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said the US was intentionally adopting a biased position.

"The US is reacting because of China's increasing regional influence," he said.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday, "We hope the US can be reasonable and tell right from wrong."

Fang said on Thursday that some neighboring countries were using the so-called US pivot to Asia as an opportunity to "stir up some problems, which actually make the South China Sea and East China Sea no longer such calm places".

He said the US must be objective or risk harming Sino-US relations.

Patrick Cronin, an Asia expert at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank in Washington DC, told Agence France-Presse that rising tension in Vietnam also raised the stakes for the US. "I think this poses a huge dilemma for the US," he said.

Full honors

Despite the harsh words, Fang was guest of honor at a welcoming ceremony with full military honors at the Pentagon's parade ground.

A guard of honor comprising some 250 members of the combined services took part in the ceremony, which included a 19-gun salute and a navy band playing both national anthems.

There have only been four such ceremonies during US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey's tenure of more than two years.

A number of agreements, including talks on setting up a system for notification of major military maneuvers, were signed.

Contact the writers at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn and chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com

AP contributed to this story.