US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shakes hands with Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh while attending the 19th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers Retreat at the office of the Council of Ministers in Phnom Penh, Thursday. — ReutersPHNOM PENH — The United States and China signaled a willingness Thursday to work together on “sensitive issues" in a move to cool tensions between rival claimants to the potentially oil-rich and increasingly militarized South China Sea. Long-simmering tensions in the waters have entered a more contentious chapter this year as the six parties who claim the territory search deeper into the disputed waters for energy supplies while building up their navies and defense alliances. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Beijing was ready to work with Washington “to expand our common ground, respect each other, properly handle differences on sensitive issues, and push forward" relations. Echoing Yang's conciliatory tone, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed the importance of US-China cooperation in regional institutions. “The United States and China not only can, but will work together in Asia," she told reporters ahead of a meeting with Yang on the sidelines of a regional forum in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Earlier, Clinton called on all parties to refrain from issuing threats, and advocated all-party dialogue to address rival claims to the waters, a potential military flashpoint. Her stance was likely to upset Beijing which wants to take a bilateral approach to resolving the row. In a text released by the State Department, Clinton said all parties should resolve disputes “without coercion, without intimidation, without threats, and without use of force". Attempts to solve the problems bilaterally, she added, “could be a recipe for confusion and even confrontation". — Reuters
