US unhappy about China’s new air defence zone, Biden tells Beijing

US vice-president Joe Biden said China's new air defence identification zone has caused "significant" unease in the region, and he told President Xi Jinping of Washington's firm objection to the move.

“China’s recent and sudden announcement of the establishment of a new air defence identification zone has, to state the obvious, caused significant apprehension in the region,” Mr Biden told a gathering of US executives in Beijing.

“I was very direct about our firm position and our expectations in my conversations with President Xi,” he said.

Mr Biden had about five hours of discussions with Mr Xi yesterday, with both leaders laying out their perspective on an issue that has jangled nerves in east Asia. The zone in the East China Sea covers an area that includes uninhabited islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with Japan, called the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

Chinese move
China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a brief statement: "During the talks, the Chinese side repeated its principled position, stressing that the Chinese move accorded with international law and practice and that the US side ought to take an objective and fair attitude and respect it."

Mr Biden also raised the issue with Mr Xi of how US journalists were being treated by the Beijing government.

Mr Biden met a number of US journalists in a bar in a Beijing hotel. While there were no details given of which journalists he met, it is believed they included reporters from the New York Times and Bloomberg, who may be forced to leave China this month in what some say is retaliation for negative stories about government figures.

Both American news organisations have had their websites blocked in China since late last year after each published detailed investigative reports exposing the wealth amassed by the relatives of Chinese leaders – including Mr Xi and former premier Wen Jiabao.

Journalists at both organisations are faced with the non-renewal of the journalist visas they need to work in China, and could face expulsion this month if they are not issued.

“Innovation thrives where people breathe freely, speak freely, are able to challenge orthodoxy, where newspapers can report the truth without fear of consequences,” Mr Biden told the US executives.