With the first meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao scheduled to take place in London next week, China has backed down, temporarily at least, in its dispute with the United States on whether American navy ships require Chinese permission before conducting activities in the South China Sea.
According to the United States, an American surveillance vessel, the Impeccable, was surrounded and harassed by five Chinese ships on March 8 while it was operating in international waters.
Beijing, however, asserted that the American navy needed its permission to operate within China's exclusive economic zone.
