{Russian Foreign minister Lavrov has rejected U.S. pressure over Snowden, says Russia has nothing to do with him}
{{Meanwhile China rebuked the United States on Tuesday for accusing it of facilitating the flight of fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, and said suggestions that it had done so were “baseless and unacceptable”.}}
The remarks from the Chinese foreign ministry and earlier comments from state media have underscored the strain in ties between the two countries since Snowden, who is wanted by the U.S. government on charges of espionage, fled Hong Kong on Sunday.
The White House said the decision by the Chinese territory to allow Snowden to leave was “a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the U.S.-China relationship.
China rejected the accusation.
“The U.S. side has no reason to call into question the Hong Kong government’s handling of affairs according to law,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing. “The United States’ criticism of China’s central government is baseless. China absolutely cannot accept it.”
Hua also defended the Hong Kong government’s decision to let Snowden go, saying it “handled the relevant case completely according to law.
“This is beyond dispute. All parties should respect this.”
Experts on both sides however said the tirade should quickly blow over, and that neither country would be keen to let ties deteriorate permanently just weeks after a successful summit meeting between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping.
“China does not want this to affect the overall situation, the central government has always maintained a relatively calm and restrained attitude because Sino-U.S. relations are important,” said Zhao Kejing, a professor of international relations at China’s elite Tsinghua University.
“The United States has no reason to exert greater pressure, otherwise it would lose moral support.”
Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution who was an Asia adviser in Bill Clinton’s White House, said sanctioning Beijing was “inconceivable” and linking Snowden to other issues would undo careful policy aimed at handling issues in separate lanes to avoid big ruptures in ties.
“Over the years, we’ve sought to prevent any serious disagreement in one issue area from spilling over and degrading the entire relationship,” he said.
At the summit earlier this month, Obama confronted Xi over allegations of cyber-theft. Xi earlier told a news conference with Obama that China itself was a victim of cyber attacks but that the two sides should work together to develop a common approach.
wirestory
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