CHINA US Focus - Perspectives shaping the world's most important bilateral relationship

The US and China splashed unusually harsh words on each other this week, but it may prove just a ripple in a larger dispute.

 

In short, Beijing summoned a senior US diplomat on Aug. 4, after Washington criticized a new city and military garrison that China set up in a widely contested ocean area stretching 3.5 million kilometers (1.4 million miles), from Taiwan to Singapore.

 

A US Department of State spokesman said on Aug. 3 that China's new Sansha City and companion military base in the tiny Paracel Islands “run counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region.”