China urged the United States to keep its word and not take any sides in the South China Sea maritime dispute ahead of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue set on Monday.
Zheng Zeguang, the vice foreign minister of China, made the remarks on Thursday during a warm-up forum for the upcoming dialogue in Beijing, CRI English reported.
The outlet said that on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be joining China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi in the eighth round of dialogues in the country's capital.
China to U.S.: Stay Neutral
According to Zheng, the U.S. should maintain its neutral position in the territorial disputes even if its allies urge the country to side with them.
He pointed out that Washington itself is not a claimant country and, thus, should stay out of the issue.
"In reality the U.S. is not a claimant in the South China Sea disputes, they have said themselves that they don't hold a position on the territorial sovereignty disputes. So we hope that the U.S. can refrain from picking sides," Zheng said.
Furthermore, he called on to the U.S. government to decide its position "based on the truths and falsehoods of the issue and not on who their allies are."
"I think if they can do this, and if they can stop provocative acts targeted at China's sovereignty and security interests, then the U.S. can play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea and promote a lowering of the temperature on this issue," he added as quoted by Reuters.
In his statement featured on CRI English, Zheng reiterated China's position on the maritime grapple, saying that the country "has the right to safeguard its own territory and legitimate maritime interests" and that they own the disputed territories "since ancient times."
Monday's Dialogue
According to the South China Morning Post, one of the priorities during Monday's dialogue would be to find ways to contain the rising tensions between two of the world's biggest economies.
The dialogue would be focused more on minimizing "the likelihood of miscalculations" and "accidents or serious disruptions in bilateral ties," the SCMP reported.
Zheng said that aside from the South China Sea issue, the dialogue would also cover other issues including "the interactive relationship between China and the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific region," "the deepening of bilateral practical cooperation, the management of differences and sensitive issues," and other global dilemmas the countries are faced with.
Monday's event would be the eighth of 24 sessions of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue that aims to bring the two nations in a consensus in terms of investments and economic track, said Zhu Guangyao, China's vice finance minister.