Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, held talks with Barack Obama, US president, on Saturday on the sidelines of a regional summit which raised disputes in the South China Sea and contentious plans for a US military base in Australia.
Officials said Washington’s announcement that it would station 2,500 marines in Australia, along with tensions in the South China Sea, were the major themes discussed behind closed doors by 18 heads of state at the East Asia Summit which included China Russia and the US for the first time.
China had warned in advance that it did not want the Summit – which followed a meeting of the 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations – to stray into contentious areas, saying it was an inappropriate venue for such discussions. In a veiled warning to Washington, it said it would not appreciate US involvement in its disputes with Asean countries over the resource-rich South China Sea.