Obama warns China against ‘coercion’ at sea

US President Barack Obama warned China on July 11 against the using force or intimidation in its tense maritime disputes with its neighbors and urged a peaceful resolution. Obama, meeting Chinese officials who were in Washington for wide-ranging talks, “urged China to manage its maritime disputes with its neighbors peacefully, without the use of intimidation or coercion,” a White House statement said. Tensions have steadily risen between China and Japan, which accuses its growing neighbor of sending an increasing number of ships to exert its claim over sparsely populated islands managed by Tokyo in the East China Sea. The Philippines and Vietnam have also charged that China has used assertive means to exert claims in the conflict-riven South China Sea.


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