In July, Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was on board a Boeing P-8 surveillance plane as it carried out a seven-hour flight over the East Sea.
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This is for the first time that India’s position has been articulated on an worldwide forum at the Defence Ministers’ level. He said that Asean will continue to engage China and the USA to ensure peace and stability in the region. It’s a signal China sent to the United States that it is serious about its claims.
The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the sea.
A copy of remarks by Malaysian Defence Minister Hishamuddin Hussein which appeared to have been issued to media by mistake and was later retracted stated that ASEAN seeks a “peaceful resolution to the disputes” in the South China Sea.
China’s Defence Ministry, on its website, blamed the failure to sign a joint declaration on “certain countries” outside South-east Asia – widely believed to be a reference to USA – which it said had attempted to “force” content into it.
Conference host Malaysia had planned to release a statement at the end of the two-day forum but a senior U.S. defense official said China had scuppered that.
FILE – The alleged on-going reclamation of Subi Reef by China is seen from Pag-asa Island in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, western Palawan Province, Philippines, May 11, 2015.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter listens to a question during a press conference after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, November 4, 2015.
China and its allies in the bloc have in the past opposed statements directly criticizing Beijing over its actions.
In a separate speech delivered during a plenary session, Han said freedom of navigation should be guaranteed in the South China Sea and that all parties should abide by “international norms”, while not mentioning China by name.
Last week, Washington pressed its right to freedom of navigation by sending the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen to within 12 nautical miles of at least one of the artificial islets in the Spratlys chain, angering China.
“The Teddy Roosevelt’s presence there and our visit is a symbol of our commitment to a re-balance and the importance of the Asia Pacific to the United States”, Carter said.
“I think this meeting will be very important for ASEAN partners to politely signal that they support freedom of navigation, and I think a few will … but at the same time to emphasise that this is not an anti-China issue”, said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University.
ASEAN members value a policy of consensus decisions and noninterference in each other’s internal affairs, making it reluctant to pressure recalcitrant members.
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The 12-nautical-mile limit is internationally recognized as sovereign territory, but the USA does not recognize China’s claims in the area. Territorial disputes need to be resolved by claimant nations, and joint patrols with China would help reduce tensions, Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said.
