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China says will protect South China Sea sovereignty

By Ben Blanchard and David Brunnstrom

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China said on Tuesday it had “irrefutable” sovereignty over disputed islands in the South China Sea after the White House vowed to defend “international territories” in the strategic waterway.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer in his comments on Monday signaled a sharp departure from years of cautious U.S. handling of China’s assertive pursuit of territorial claims in Asia.

“The U.S. is going to make sure that we protect our interests there,” Spicer said when asked if Trump agreed with comments by his secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson. On Jan. 11, Tillerson said China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea.

“It’s a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we’re going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country,” Spicer said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Tuesday “the United States is not a party to the South China Sea dispute”.

China claims most of the South China Sea, while Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei claims parts of the sea that commands strategic sealanes and has rich fishing grounds along with oil and gas deposits.

China’s sovereignty over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea was “irrefutable” Hua said. But China was also dedicated to protecting freedom of navigation and wants talks with nations directly involved to find a peaceful solution.

“We urge the United States to respect the facts, speak and act cautiously to avoid harming the peace and stability of the South China Sea,” Hua said.

“Our actions in the South China Sea are reasonable and fair. No matter what changes happen in other countries, what they say or what they want to do, China’s resolve to protect its sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea will not change,” she added.

BAR ACCESS TO ISLANDS

Tillerson’s remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing prompted Chinese state media to say at the time that the United States would need to “wage war” to bar China’s access to the islands, where it has built military-length air strips and installed weapons systems.

Tillerson was asked at the hearing whether he supported a more aggressive posture toward China and said: “We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.”

The former Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands.

But analysts said his comments, like those of Spicer, suggested the possibility of U.S. military action, or even a naval blockade. Such action would risk an armed confrontation with China, an increasingly formidable nuclear-armed military power. It is also the world’s second-largest economy and the target of Trump accusations it is stealing American jobs.

Spicer declined to elaborate when asked how the United States could enforce such a move against China, except to say: “I think, as we develop further, we’ll have more information on it.”

Tillerson narrowly won approval from a Senate committee on Monday and is expected to win confirmation from the full Senate.

RISK OF DANGEROUS ESCALATION

Military experts said that while the U.S. Navy has extensive capabilities in Asia to stage blockading operations with ships, submarines and planes, any such move against China’s growing naval fleets would risk a dangerous escalation.

Aides have said that Trump plans a major naval build-up in East Asia to counter China’s rise.

China’s foreign ministry said earlier this month it could not guess what Tillerson meant by his remarks, which came after Trump questioned Washington’s longstanding and highly sensitive “one-China” policy over Taiwan.

Washington-based South China Sea expert Mira Rapp-Hooper at the Center for a New American Security called the threats to bar China’s access in the South China Sea “incredible” and said it had no basis in international law.

“A blockade – which is what would be required to actually bar access – is an act of war,” she added.

“The Trump administration has begun to draw red lines in Asia that they will almost certainly not be able to uphold, but they may nonetheless be very destabilizing to the relationship with China, invite crises, and convince the rest of the world that the United States is an unreliable partner.”

Bonnie Glaser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank called Spicer’s remarks “worrisome” and said the new administration was “sending confusing and conflicting messages.”

Dean Cheng, a China expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Spicer’s remarks showed the South China Sea was an important issue for the Trump administration.

He said it was significant that neither Spicer nor Tillerson had been specific as to what actions would be taken and this left open the possibility that economic measures – instead of military steps – could be used against China and firms that carry out island building.

(Clarifies paragraph 4 attribution)

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, and Christian Shepherd in Beijing; Editing by Andrew Hay and Bill Tarrant)

Expectations low as Syria’s warring sides meet

By Olzhas Auyezov and Suleiman Al-Khalidi

ASTANA (Reuters) – Syria’s warring sides met for talks for the first time in nine months on Monday, with frosty initial exchanges suggesting chances of a significant breakthrough were slim as the country’s six-year-old conflict ground on.

They sat opposite each other at a round table in a hotel conference room before a day of negotiations – sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana – got under way.

Both delegations said the focus was on the country’s ceasefire, a fragile precursor to a wider political solution.

But Bashar al-Jaafari, the head of the delegation representing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said negotiators for the rebel forces had been rude and unprofessional, accusing them of defending “war crimes” committed by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the militant group formerly known as Nusra Front.

A rebel source said opposition representatives planned to negotiate with the government side only via intermediaries.

Mohammed Alloush, the head of the opposition delegation, told delegates he wanted to stop “the horrific flow of blood” by consolidating the shaky ceasefire and freezing military operations, saying Iran-backed militias had to leave Syria.

Russian news agency TASS cited a draft communique in which Moscow, Ankara and Tehran would commit to jointly fighting Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and set up a mechanism for trilateral monitoring of the ceasefire, which took effect on Dec. 30.

But fundamental divisions also remain between pro-Assad Russia and Turkey, which has supported anti-Assad rebels – including whether Syria’s president should stay in power or, as the rebels are demanding, step down.

There were no senior government figures among the delegations in Astana and Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry said it expected the meetings to be over by midday on Tuesday.

OVERSEEING CEASEFIRE

Some observers said the talks, which UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is attending, could help jump-start U.N.-led negotiations that were suspended in late April.

De Mistura said it was crucial to get a mechanism to oversee and implement a nationwide ceasefire in place to build confidence.

“That by itself … would be a major achievement,” he said, adding he hoped Astana could pave the way for direct talks between the government and opposition in Geneva next month.

The Astana talks pointedly exclude the West, though Kazakhstan, with the backing of Moscow and Ankara, extended an invitation to the new U.S. administration last week, which Washington declined.

Iranian officials have said they strongly oppose U.S. involvement, though George Krol, the U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, attended as an observer.

Turkey and Russia – each for their own reasons – both want to disentangle themselves from the fighting. That has pushed them into an ad hoc alliance that some people believe represents the best chance for progress towards a peace deal, especially with Washington distracted by domestic issues.

The opposition arrived in Astana aware that the fall of their former urban stronghold, Aleppo, has shifted the momentum in the fighting in favor of Assad.

On Sunday, war planes bombed rebel-held areas of western Syria, killing 12 people in one location, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while insurgent shelling of Aleppo killed six.

“The ceasefire is clinically dead, but the Russians and Turks want to keep it alive to send a message to the international community that they are the ones in charge of the Syrian situation,” said Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman.

(Additional reporting by John Irish, Denis Dyomkin and Kinda Makieh in Astana, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in Dubai and Thomas Perry in Beirut; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov/Christian Lowe/Andrew Osborn; Editing by John Stonestreet)

North Korea nuclear threat means South must not delay anti-missile system

By Jack Kim and Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – Acting South Korean President Hwang Kyo-ahn said on Monday the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system can not be delayed in the face of a growing North Korean nuclear missile threat and despite Chinese hostility to the move.

South Korea and the United States say the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is designed to protect against North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic capabilities.

But China says THAAD’s powerful radar could penetrate its own territory, leading to calls from some South Korean opposition leaders to delay or cancel its deployment.

“(North Korea) has been expanding its nuclear capabilities and developing the technology to create nuclear weapons. They are also miniaturizing nuclear weapons,” Hwang told reporters.

“Right now is not the time to talk to try to resolve North Korea’s nuclear issues.”

North Korea has carried out a series of nuclear and missile tests in defiance of U.N sanctions. North and South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Asked about China’s response to THAAD, Hwang said there were “some concerns” and that more time was needed to address these.

“The relationship between South Korea and China was not made in a day. We have engaged in diverse cooperation since the beginning of our diplomatic ties,” Hwang said.

South Korea’s finance and trade ministers have said they suspect China is taking indirect, retaliatory action against THAAD, but have not addressed the issue outright.

Hwang was speaking in place of President Park Geun-hye, who has been impeached by parliament amid an influence-peddling scandal and stripped of her powers as she awaits a court decision on her fate.

(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Nick Macfie and Michael Perry)

British protesters tell Trump from Tower Bridge: ‘Build bridges not walls’

By Alistair Smout and Luke Bridges

LONDON (Reuters) – A banner reading “Build bridges not walls” was draped across London’s Tower Bridge on Friday as part of a series of protests across the world aimed at expressing displeasure at the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president.

Protesters on the drawbridge, with its two Gothic-style towers, held up pink letters reading “Act now!” soon after sunrise, while others unfurled the banner over the railings and a speedboat with a black flag reading “build bridges not walls” raced down the River Thames.

Beside the British parliament, protesters draped banners saying “Migrants welcome here” and “Migration is older than language” over Westminster bridge. Other protests are planned in London, other British cities and across the world on Friday.

Julie Chasin, a 42-year-old teacher originally from New York who has lived in London for a decade, said she joined the protest to hold up one of the pink letters on Tower Bridge as she was concerned about the Trump presidency.

“Yes Donald Trump is President, but he still needs to protect everybody’s rights,” said Chasin, a Democrat who said she worked on Hillary campaign in North Carolina.

“It’s scary. I hope he’s kept in check. I hope everyone who is telling me not to worry, and saying that we have a strong system of checks and balances, I hope that it’s true,” Chasin said.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to “make America great again”, drawing strong support especially from areas of industrial decline. He said on Twitter that he would fight very hard to make his presidency a great journey for the American people.

TRUMP’S FRESH APPROACH

Due to be sworn in at a ceremony in Washington on Friday, he faces protests in Washington during his inauguration, and in cities from Toronto to Sydney, Addis Ababa and Dublin over his politics which critics say are divisive and dangerous.

The protest in London was organized by the campaign group also called “Bridges not Walls”, in reference to Trump’s pledge to build a wall on the Mexican border.

“We won’t let the politics of hate peddled by the likes of Donald Trump take hold,” Nona Hurkmans of Bridges not Walls said in a statement.

Trump opponents have been angered by his comments during the campaign about women, illegal immigrants and Muslims and his pledges to scrap the Obamacare health reform and build a wall on the Mexican border.

The Republican’s supporters admire his experience in business, including as a real estate developer and reality television star, and view him as an outsider who will take a fresh approach to politics.

For some on the protest in London, Trump’s victory a little over 4 months after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, symbolizes a rise of populism across the West.

“For me it’s about not just the inauguration of Trump, but about the rise of right wing populism across Western Europe and the US, and Trump’s inauguration is a celebration of that,” Jac St John, 26, a doctoral student from London, who unfurled one of the banners.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Luke Bridges; editing by Kate Holton and Guy Faulconbridge, Ralph Boulton)

Tensions rise at North Dakota pipeline as Trump set to take White House

By Terray Sylvester

CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) – Tensions have increased this week near the construction site of the Dakota Access pipeline, with repeated clashes between protesters and police ahead of Friday’s inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, an unabashed fan of the $3.8 billion project.

Police used tear gas and fired bean-bag rounds to disperse crowds, and have arrested nearly 40 people since Monday, many of them on a bridge that has been the site of frequent confrontations, law enforcement officials said.

Demonstrators at the shrinking protest camp have voiced desperation and declining morale, citing weaker support from the local Standing Rock Sioux tribe that launched the effort last year and the backing that Trump, a Republican, will provide the pipeline once he takes office on Friday.

“It’s closing in on the inauguration, and people want to make sure that their voices are heard while they still have a chance,” said Benjamin Johansen, 29, a carpenter from Iowa who has been at the camp for two months. “There’s a very real possibility that once the new president is inaugurated, our voices won’t matter.”

This week’s clashes between protesters and police are the most serious since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement in December for the pipeline to travel under Lake Oahe.

Native Americans and environmental activists have said that the pipeline threatens water resources and sacred lands.

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux, whose reservation is near the pipeline, asked protesters to disperse following the Corps’ decision, but around 600 remain in the main camp, now called Oceti Oyate.

The tribe is asking that the camp be evacuated by Jan. 29, and is offering an alternate site on reservation land that avoids any risk of flooding. Tribal leaders and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum have warned about potential flooding at the protest site in early March.

The call for the protest to end has left those still on site in a darker mood, said Amanda Moore, 20, an activist with Black Lives Matter.

“We’re stressed with Donald Trump’s inauguration coming so soon, and feeling that we have to stop the pipeline now,” she said.

Protesters and law enforcement faced off early Thursday morning on Backwater Bridge for the third straight night, with demonstrators throwing snowballs at officers and climbing onto a barricade before being pushed back.

Law enforcement fired a volley of bean bags and sponges at protesters at around 2 a.m., sending protesters fleeing from the ice- and snow-covered bridge, according to a Reuters witness. Police said they also used pepper spray.

The skirmish came as the Army began the process of launching an environmental study of the pipeline.

At least one protester was taken to the hospital, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Since Monday, 37 have been arrested, adding up to 624 since August.

“They come and say they want to pray and want us to fall back, then they get aggressive and try and flank our officers and get behind us,” Maxine Herr, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department said. “What they say and what they do are two different things.”

Both Herr and protesters conceded that communication between the two sides had deteriorated in past months.

Kalisa Wight Rock, a volunteers from Georgia working as a medic, said focus shifting away from the protest had left some feeling abandoned after the widespread attention the opposition to the pipeline garnered last year.

“A lot of people think this is over and that we’re not still here,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Ben Klayman and Jonathan Oatis)

China’s Xi says to build new relations with United States

By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – China will build a new model of relations with the United States as part of its creation of a “circle of friends” around the world, President Xi Jinping said in a speech at the United Nations in Geneva on Wednesday.

His speech, the finale of a Swiss trip that included a state visit and topping the bill at the World Economic Forum in Davos, was intended to highlight a Chinese interest in playing a cooperative role in international affairs.

“We always put people’s rights and interests above everything else and we have worked hard to develop and uphold human rights,” he said. “China will never seek expansion, hegemony or sphere of influence.”

Human rights groups and Western governments have accused China of widespread human rights abuses. Beijing has also been accused by smaller neighbors of expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea but denies such charges.

“Big countries should treat smaller countries as equals instead of acting as a hegemon imposing their will on others.

“We will strive to build new model of major country relations with the United States, a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination with Russia, a partnership for peace, growth, reform and among different civilizations,” he said.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was particularly critical of China during his election campaign, accusing it of exploiting the United States economically. He also raised concern by taking a telephone call after his election from the president of Taiwan which Beijing regards as a renegade province.

Xi called for unity on climate change and the fight against terrorism, as well as nuclear disarmament.

“The Paris agreement is a milestone in the history of climate governance. We must ensure this endeavor is not derailed…China will continue to take steps to tackle climate change and fully honor its obligations,” Xi said.

China itself suffers serious air pollution but has pushed hard to develop “green” energy systems. President-elect Trump has cast doubt on accepted scientific wisdom that carbon emissions are driving a rise in global temperatures.

The deep sea, the polar regions, outer space and the Internet should be new frontiers for cooperation rather than a wrestling ground for competition, he said.

(Reporting by Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Philippines says protested against China arms buildup on South China Sea isles

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest with China, its foreign minister said on Monday, over Beijing’s installation last year of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on its manmade islands in the disputed South China Sea.

The protest note was sent to the Chinese embassy in December, after confirmation of a report from the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies about a weapons buildup on seven artificial islands in the Spratlys.

One of those islands is located within the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay told CNN Philippines it was important to raise concerns carefully, and not create a big row.

“I just want to assure the Filipino people that when we take action at engaging China in this dispute, we do not want to take such aggressive, provocative action that will not solve the problem,” he said.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of goods passes every year. An international arbitration ruling last year invalidated those claims.

Speaking up about that has become a tricky issue for the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte turned its foreign policy upside down by seeking engagement and a new relationship with China. Until recently the Philippines had been one of the most outspoken critics of Beijing’s maritime assertiveness.

“We cannot engage China in a war,” Yasay added, but “when there are reports about the buildup of weapon systems in the area during our watch, we made sure that the interests and rights of the Philippines are properly protected.”

The Philippines this year chairs the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Yasay said last week he was confident a protracted code of conduct between the grouping and China could be finished by mid-year, after 15 years and limited progress.

China’s artificial islands became a hot issue last week when the U.S. nominee for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, told a Senate hearing that Beijing should be repelled from, and then denied access to, the controversial islets.

Yasay last week suggested the Philippines would play no part in that, and said of the United States, “Let them do it”.

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez)

China will ‘take off the gloves’ if Trump continues on Taiwan, state media warns

Donald Trump at news conference discussing Taiwan relations

By Christian Shepherd

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will “take off the gloves” and take strong action if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continues to provoke Beijing over Taiwan once he assumes office, two leading state-run newspapers said on Monday.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Friday, Trump said the “One China” policy was up for negotiation. China’s foreign ministry, in response, said “One China” was the foundation of China-U.S. ties and was non-negotiable.

Trump broke with decades of precedent last month by taking a congratulatory telephone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, angering Beijing which sees Taiwan as part of China.

“If Trump is determined to use this gambit in taking office, a period of fierce, damaging interactions will be unavoidable, as Beijing will have no choice but to take off the gloves,” the English-language China Daily said.

The Global Times, an influential state-run tabloid, echoed the China Daily, saying Beijing would take “strong countermeasures” against Trump’s attempt to “impair” the “One China” principle.

“The Chinese mainland will be prompted to speed up Taiwan reunification and mercilessly combat those who advocate Taiwan’s independence,” the paper said in an editorial.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the United States was clearly aware of China’s position on “One China”.

“Any person should understand that in this world there are certain things that cannot be traded or bought and sold,” she told a daily news briefing.

“The One China principle is the precondition and political basis for any country having relations with China.”

Hua added, “If anyone attempts to damage the One China principle or if they are under the illusion they can use this as a bargaining chip, they will be opposed by the Chinese government and people.

“In the end it will be like lifting a rock to drop it on one’s own feet,” she said, without elaborating.

TAIWAN MAY BE “SACRIFICED”

The Global Times said Trump’s endorsement of Taiwan was merely a ploy to further his administration’s short term interests, adding: “Taiwan may be sacrificed as a result of this despicable strategy.”

“If you do not beat them until they are bloody and bruised, then they will not retreat,” Yang Yizhou, deputy head of China’s government-run All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, told an academic meeting on cross-straits relations in Beijing on Saturday.

Taiwan independence must “pay a cost” for every step forward taken, “we must use bloodstained facts to show them that the road is blocked,” Yang said, according to a Monday report on the meeting by the official People’s Daily Overseas Edition.

The United States, which switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, has acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only “One China” and that Taiwan is part of it.

The China Daily said Beijing’s relatively measured response to Trump’s comments in the Wall Street Journal “can only come from a genuine, sincere wish that the less-than-desirable, yet by-and-large manageable, big picture of China-U.S. relations will not be derailed before Trump even enters office”.

But China should not count on the assumption that Trump’s Taiwan moves are “a pre-inauguration bluff, and instead be prepared for him to continue backing his bet”.

“It may be costly. But it will prove a worthy price to pay to make the next U.S. president aware of the special sensitivity, and serious consequences of his Taiwan game,” said the national daily.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and John Ruwitch; Editing by Michael Perry and Randy Fabi)

Trump’s CIA nominee includes Russia in list of global challenges

By David Alexander and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the CIA portrayed multiple challenges facing the United States on Thursday, from an aggressive Russia to a “disruptive” Iran to a China that he said is creating “real tensions.”

Diverging from Trump’s stated aim of seeking closer ties with Russia, Pompeo said that Russia is “asserting itself aggressively” by invading and occupying Ukraine, threatening Europe, and “doing nearly nothing” to destroy Islamic State.

Mike Pompeo, a Republican member of the House of Representatives and a former U.S. Army officer, was speaking at the start of his confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate.

In his prepared opening statement, Pompeo noted that the CIA does not make policy on any country, adding, “it is a policy decision as to what to do with Russia, but it will be essential that the Agency provide policymakers with accurate intelligence and clear-eyed analysis of Russian activities.”

His testimony came at a time when Trump, a Republican who takes office on Jan. 20, has openly feuded with U.S. intelligence agencies.

For weeks, the president-elect questioned the intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia used hacking and other tactics to try to tilt the 2016 presidential election in his favor. Trump said on Wednesday that Russia was behind the hacking but that other countries were hacking the United States as well.

This week, Trump furiously denounced intelligence officials for what he said were leaks to the media by intelligence agencies of a dossier that makes unverified, salacious allegations about his contacts in Russia.

Pompeo, a conservative lawmaker from Kansas who is on the House Intelligence Committee, listed challenges facing the United States, saying “this is the most complicated threat environment the United States has faced in recent memory.”

This included what he called a “resilient” Islamic State and the fallout from Syria’s long civil war.

Pompeo also included North Korea, which he said had “dangerously accelerated its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.” He said China was creating “real tensions” with its activities in the South China Sea and in cyberspace as it flexed its muscles and expanded its military and economic reach.

He called Iran an “emboldened, disruptive player in the Middle East, fueling tensions” with Sunni Muslim allies of the United States.

(Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by Howard Goller)

U.S. police say black killings, protests raised tensions: survey

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Three quarters of American police officers said their interactions with black people have become more tense following police killings of unarmed black men and waves of protests that followed, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

The Pew Research Center survey found a widespread feeling among police that the general public misunderstood them and the public outcry over the deaths in recent years was motivated by anti-police bias rather than a will to hold police accountable.

Police killings of several unarmed black men in 2014 led to nationwide protests and the rise of the grassroots movement known as Black Lives Matter.

Supporters of the movement, including some Democrats, have said it shines a light on a previously overlooked problem of excessive use of force against blacks by police. Critics, including President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans, have criticized Black Lives Matter as unfairly maligning police doing a dangerous job.

“Within America’s police and sheriff’s departments, the survey finds that the ramifications of these deadly encounters have been less visible than the public protests, but no less profound,” the researchers wrote in a report accompanying the survey results.

Seventy five percent of officers told Pew their interactions with black people had become more tense in the wake of high-profile police killings of blacks and the protests they generated. Two thirds of officers said the protests were motivated “a great deal” by a general bias towards police.

Two thirds of officers saw the killings of unarmed black men as isolated incidents rather than a sign of a broader problem. This was in marked contrast to the sentiment of the general public, 60 percent of whom said in a separate Pew survey the killings pointed to a broader systemic problem.

More than ninety percent of American police officers said they worried more about their safety because of the protests. About three quarters said they or their colleagues were less willing to stop and question people who seemed suspicious or to use force even when appropriate.

Majorities of police officers and the general public supported the wider use of body cameras worn by officers to record interactions, at 66 percent and 93 percent respectively.

Pew based its findings on online surveys with 7,917 officers from 54 police and sheriff’s departments between May 19 and August 14 last year. There is no single margin of error for the results because of the complex, multi-stage way Pew arrived at its sample of police officers, Pew said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Andrew Hay)

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