By EDWARD WONG

Published: June 22, 2011

BEIJING — The Chinese vice foreign minister warned the United States on Wednesday to stay out of the increasingly tense territorial disputes and maritime conflicts in the South China Sea, which has some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas reserves.

All or parts of the sea are claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. China and Vietnam are the biggest and most vocal claimants, and both nations have been involved in diplomatic disputes in recent years involving fishing vessels and maritime surveillance boats. But this year has been even tenser than usual — Vietnamese officials accused Chinese vessels of cutting cables to oil exploration ships in May and June, while Chinese officials have denied some of those accusations and have warned Vietnam and other nations that only joint oil exploration is acceptable to China.

Standoffs have also taken place this year between Chinese and Philippine vessels. On March 2, two Chinese maritime surveillance ships ordered a Philippine survey ship away from an area called Reed Bank. The Philippines later sent military aircraft to the area.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said last year that the United States had a “national interest” in the South China Sea and could facilitate talks, worrying China that it was going to step into the territorial rivalry.

“Regarding the role of the United States in this, the United States is not a claimant state to the dispute,” Cui Tiankai, the vice foreign minister, told a small group of foreign reporters on Wednesday. “So it is better for the United States to leave the dispute to be sorted out between the claimant states.”

He added, “I believe the individual countries are actually playing with fire, and I hope the fire will not be drawn to the United States.”

Mr. Cui was speaking at the Foreign Ministry ahead of a weekend meeting in Hawaii between senior Chinese and American officials to discuss issues in the Asia-Pacific region. The meeting, which the two sides are calling a first round of consultations, was set up after President Hu Jintao visited Washington in January. The meeting will be led by Kurt M. Campbell, an American assistant secretary of state, and Mr. Cui.

The South China Sea is not officially on the agenda of the meeting, but the issue will almost certainly come up because of the recent conflicts. The United States has not taken a side in the territorial disputes, but has urged nations to resolve them peacefully. China insists that it will talk to the only countries on a bilateral basis and that it will not negotiate with the claimants in a multilateral manner, which those countries would prefer to do.

“Some American friends may want the United States to help matters,” Mr. Cui said. “We appreciate that gesture, but more often than not, such gestures will only make things more complicated.”

He added that “if the United States does want to play a role, it may counsel restraint to those countries who’ve been frequently taking provocative action, and to ask them to be more responsible in their behavior."

In giving his warning, Mr. Cui hinted that anti-American fervor among Chinese could be brewing. “To be honest with you, the Chinese public is following very closely whether the United States will adopt a just and objective position on matters like these,” he said.

In the Philippines, officials said Wednesday that the United States was obligated by a 1951 treaty to help defend Philippine interests if ships came under attack in the South China Sea, The Associated Press reported.

At the briefing, Mr. Cui also talked about North Korea, officially called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, an issue of great concern to both Chinese and American officials. The United States has been pressing China to do more to control North Korea’s unpredictable and ailing leader, Kim Jong-il, a frequent visitor to China.

“From what we’ve seen and heard, what the D.P.R.K. leaders and delegation members have seen in China has had an impact on their thinking,” Mr. Cui said. “They are now considering whether there need to be some initiatives on the front of economic reform and opening.”

He added: “We should encourage and support such a trend. Of course, it will take some more time for there to be a fundamental improvement in the D.P.R.K. economy. So we also need to have patience. We cannot expect things to change overnight simply because there is an increased interest in economic development.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/world/asia/23china.html?_r=2&hp