Beijing 'must play by the rules'

THE US expected China to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime security, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday.

THE US expected China to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime security, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday.

And Mrs Clinton said in Melbourne that closer military co-operation between the US and Australia and with other regional allies reflected Washington's determination to remain a strong force in the region.

At the close of yesterday's Ausmin talks at which US and Australian delegations prepared the way for increased use of Australian military and intelligence facilities by US forces, Mrs Clinton said the US was a Pacific and Atlantic power and had had a strong presence in the region for 100 years.

"We've been here, we are here and we will be here," she said

Mrs Clinton said the US was committed to building a strong, comprehensive and positive relationship with China.

On her sixth trip to the region as Secretary of State, Mrs Clinton said priorities were maintaining freedom of navigation and maritime security, which were essential to trade and commerce throughout the region.

"And we have a very robust dialogue with China where we discuss many of the matters that are of importance to both of us bilaterally and our position regionally and globally," she said.

The US had consistently said it welcomed the economic success of China and the positive effects that was having on the Chinese people.

"As China becomes more of a player in regional and global affairs, we expect China will be a responsible player and will participate in the international framework of rules that governs the way nations behave and conduct themselves," she said.

"We're not doing anything differently in any significant degree.

"We are merely taking stock of what we're going to be needing to do in the the future so that we are well prepared and working closely with our friends and allies," Mrs Clinton added.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates indicated the US was concerned about China's maritime power and worried that Beijing was not respecting freedom of navigation principles.

He confirmed that the delegations "spent a good bit of time this morning on China".

He said there was a need to ensure freedom of navigation, the application of the UN law of the sea, maritime security and multilateral engagement on these principles.

At a recent meeting in Hanoi, regional defence ministers expressed their concern about China, Dr Gates said.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said the US had long believed in the importance of freedom of navigation and the US would continue to exercise freedom of navigation in those international waters.

Asked whether the US navy would send warships back into the Yellow Sea in the face of China's determination to keep it away, Admiral Mullen said the US would continue to send ships there.

Dr Gates said the US-Australia alliance had never been more important.

The US and Australia would set up a joint working groups to develop options for increased joint defence co-operation on Australian soil, he said.

Dr Gates said the greater US force presence in the region would mean more humanitarian relief when disasters struck, more joint training in Australia, moreUS ship visits and a greater American naval presence in the region.