China warns US against spy missions

China's Defence Ministry demanded that the US Navy end surveillance missions off the country's southern coast following a weekend confrontation between an American vessel and Chinese ships.

In its first public comment on the Sunday episode, the ministry repeated earlier statements from the Foreign Ministry that the unarmed US ship was operating illegally inside China's exclusive economic zone when it was challenged by three Chinese government ships and two Chinese-flagged trawlers.

"The Chinese side's carrying out of routine enforcement and safeguarding measures within its exclusive economic zone was entirely appropriate and legal," ministry spokesman Huang Xueping said in a statement.

"We demand the United States respect our legal interests and security concerns, and take effective measures to prevent a recurrence of such incidents," Mr Huang said.

Despite the remarks, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met in a private meeting in Washington DC to say the countries agreed on the need to reduce tensions and avoid a repeat of the confrontation.

However, neither side yielded in their conflicting versions of events, even as they prepare for a much-anticipated first meeting between President Hu Jintao and President Barack Obama at next month's G20 summit in London.

The US said that Navy mapping ship USNS Impeccable was operating legally when it was harassed by Chinese boats in international waters about 75 miles off China's southern island province of Hainan.

Defence Department officials said the Impeccable was on a mission to seek out threats such as submarines and was towing a sonar apparatus that scans and listens for subs, mines and torpedoes.

With its numerous Chinese military installations, Hainan offers rich hunting for such surveillance.

Of particular interest is the new submarine base near the resort city of Sanya that is home to the Chinese navy's most sophisticated craft.

Satellite photographs of the base taken last year and posted on the internet by the Federation of American Scientists show a submarine cave entrance and a pier, with a Chinese nuclear-powered Jin class sub docked there.