China Spurns Arbitration as U.S. Joins Japan on Sea Stance
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China dismissed calls for arbitration to resolve disputes in Asian waters vital to world trade after the U.S. and Japan vowed to resist attempts to seize contested territory by force.
Qi Jianguo, deputy chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army, told a forum in Singapore yesterday that Chinese patrols in disputed waters off its coasts were “totally legitimate.” He spoke a day after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S. “stands firmly against any coercive attempts to alter the status quo” in the seas.