The United States has called for “cooler heads to prevail” as tension intensifies between China and Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
China sent two patrol ships to the islands — known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China — yesterday. Japan had sealed a deal to buy three of the islands from their private Japanese owner.
US assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell, America’s top diplomat on East Asia, said that Washington would not take sides in the matter. The region, he said, was the “cockpit of the global economy” and it was “of utmost importance” that peace and stability be maintained. In answer to questions during a debate at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, he said: “The stakes could not be bigger and the desire is to have all leaders to keep that squarely in mind.”
