Q: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a joint press conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida that the US was neutral on the ultimate sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands, but acknowledged Japan's administration over this area and opposed any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japan's administration. What is China's comment?

A: The Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands are China's inherent territory. This is based on historical and jurisprudential evidence which no one can deny.

The Japanese government insisted on taking the wrong action of purchasing the Diaoyu Islands and has constantly escalated its provocation, which is the root cause of continued tension over the Diaoyu Islands. No one can cover up this fact.

The US has unshirkable historical responsibility on the Diaoyu Islands issue. The above comments made by the US side disregard the facts and confuse right and wrong. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to that. We urge the US side to be responsible on the Diaoyu Islands issue, be discreet in word and deed and take concrete actions to safeguard regional peace and stability as well as overall interests of China-US relations so as to win trust from the Chinese people.