Basketball brawl mars Biden visit to China

US and Chinese diplomats have been left with red faces after a basketball match intended to symbolise goodwill between the countries during Vice- President Joe Biden’s visit to the country descended into a brawl.

Fights erupted all over the court during the exhibition match in Beijing between Georgetown University and the Bayi Rockets, a professional team associated with China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Trouble broke out in the fourth quarter, with members of both teams throwing punches at one another, and chairs and water bottles flying through the air.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the violence.

The match had to be called off with nine-and-a-half minutes remaining with the score at 64-all.

The US team’s ten-day tour of China had been cited by the US State Department as an example of sporting diplomacy which would strengthen ties between the two countries.

A US embassy official called it an unfortunate incident.

In China, state media did not report on the incident and blogs were mostly silent as censors worked quickly to delete any references to the fight.

The Georgetown Hoyas and the Bayi Rockets are scheduled to play again in Shanghai on Sunday night.

The brawl is the latest instance of on-court fighting by China, whose players have been fined tens of thousands of dollars by the world and Asian federations for fighting with opponents.

Biden seeks to reassure Chinese investors

Meanwhile, Mr Biden was attempting to reassure China’s leaders that America is still a safe place to invest following the downgrading of the country’s credit rating.

The vice-president told President Hu Jintao: “To get straight to the point, Mr. President: President Obama asked me to come to Beijing to meet with you and others to reaffirm our absolute total commitment to a strong and enduring positive relationship with China.”

Mr Biden also met with premier Wen Jiabao, who said China had “full confidence” that the United States would “get its economy back on the track of healthy growth”.

Beijing is Washington’s biggest foreign creditor and has appealed to US leaders to avoid taking steps in response to its economic malaise that might erode the value of the dollar and China’s Treasury debt and other US assets.