Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao appears to be wary of possible changes the U.S. could bring to the East Asia Summit as a new member.

The China News Service said the Chinese premier told Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a meeting Thursday that the EAS should continue to proceed in a fixed direction and stick to its goals toward regional cooperation and development. Wen added that factors that might hurt the unity of the summit should be ruled out.

Analysts in Seoul suggest his remarks are interpreted as opposition to possible discussions of the South China Sea issue, which may be initiated by the U.S. in the summit.

Launched in 2005, the East Asia Summit originally had 16 members including the ten ASEAN member countries and South Korea, Japan and China. But this year’s gathering will be attended by the U.S. and Russia, as they joined last year.