Common interests in South China Sea

The fact that maritime security in the South China Sea was discussed as one of the issues in the talks between Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Shenzhen early last week, demonstrates China and the United States are interested in maintaining peace and stability in Asia-Pacific, but it also reflects the geopolitics in the region.

China and the US may wish to ask hard questions of one another, but some of them simply reflect their self-interests, such as China's concern that it will be unable to control its islands and the United States' concern that it might be unable to maintain its role as the leading power. But the two countries are keen to avoid any conflict in the South China Sea.

China has said it welcomes the US presence in the region and the US has stated that it will not take sides on sovereignty issues. The US wants to have freedom of navigation and China has never taken, and will not take, any action to disrupt the passage of ships.