China voiced strong dissatisfaction Friday over remarks by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the disputed Senkakus islands fall within the scope of the US-Japan security alliance.
"China expresses its serious concern and strong dissatisfaction with remarks of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent remarks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement on the ministry website.
"The Chinese government and people will never accept any word or deed that includes the Diaoyu (Senkakus) Islands within the scope of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security."
Following her meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara in Hawaii Thursday, Clinton said the Senkakus Islands, known in Chinese as the Diaoyu Islands, fall within the scope of the US-Japan security alliance.
"Let me say clearly again the Senkakus fall within the scope of Article 5 of the 1960 US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security," Clinton told a Japanese reporter who had asked about the dispute.
Ma said the treaty was a bilateral agreement reached during the Cold War and should not be aimed at third parties, including China.
"The Diaoyu Islands have been an integral part of Chinese territory since ancient times. China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands," Ma said.
The dispute over the inhabited islands came to a boil on September 8 when a Japanese maritime patrol arrested a Chinese trawler captain near the islands.
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