US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi today amid simmering tensions between China and Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Earlier today, China criticised Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda for his “obstinate persistence” after he insisted there could be no compromise with Beijing on the ownership of disputed islands.

“China is extremely dissatisfied with and sternly opposes the Japanese leader’s obstinate persistence in his incorrect views regarding the Diaoyu islands,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement.

Noda said yesterday that a disputed archipelago in the East China Sea that China knows as the Diaoyu islands and Japan calls the Senkaku, is “an integral part” of Japanese territory “in the light of history and of international law.”

The US has insisted that Beijing and Tokyo should resolve the dispute peacefully.

Clinton and Yang met in a New York hotel on the sidelines of the General Assembly and exchanged greetings at the top of their meeting, with the US top diplomat saying she was “delighted to have this time” to meet her Chinese counterpart.

She joked that “everyone needs a vacation” after the whirlwind of diplomatic meetings organised around the UN General Assembly.

“But this year has been especially busy with all the things going on,” she said.

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