No compromise on disputed islands, says foreign minister Wang Yi
Foreign minister says China will engage in dialogue not bullying, but will not back down in its rows with Tokyo and Manila
China will never bully its neighbours but will not compromise over unreasonable demands in territorial disputes, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
Beijing would resolve such disputes through peaceful negotiations, but would "defend every inch of territory that belongs to us", Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual National People's Congress session yesterday. He appeared to be referring to the Philippines and other claimants to territory in the South China Sea.
The remarks came as the Philippines said it had rejected a Chinese offer to withdraw its ships from the Scarborough Shoal if Manila delayed filing its arbitration case over the matter with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Beijing has denied making such an offer to Manila.
Referring to a similar dispute with Japan over a cluster of islands in the East China Sea, Wang said "there is no room for compromise in territorial and historical issues".
China and Japan have exchanged increasingly harsh rhetoric over their claims to the Diaoyu Islands, which Japan controls and calls the Senkakus.
China claims ownership of the islands, and relations soured when Tokyo said it had purchased the Senkakus from private owners last year. China and South Korea were also incensed when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine housing the remains of 14 leading second world war criminals.