Sino-US sea standoff appears to have ended

Beijing, Mar.20 (ANI): China's standoff with the United States in the South China Sea appears to have ended through diplomatic efforts, defense sources said on condition of anonymity.

Top commanders do not have plans to increase the military presence in the South China Sea following a confrontation earlier this month between a US spy ship and five Chinese vessels, naval sources told China Daily, also on condition of anonymity.

The US defense chief said on Wednesday that diplomatic exchanges since the confrontation would prevent a similar incident to that of March 8.

Military analysts agreed that it is time to leave the dispute behind and move on with more important issues concerning Sino-US relations.

"It is time to call an end to it," the paper quoted Li Jie, a senior naval researcher at the Chinese Navy's Military Academy, as saying.

Zhang Tuosheng, director of the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, said that neither Beijing nor Washington wants to "blow it up (the confrontation)".

"This is because both sides have so many areas they share interests in," Zhang told China Daily. (ANI)