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China Regrets Failure to Issue Joint Declaration at ASEAN Defense Ministers

The United States and its allies had pressed for a mention of disputes in the South China Sea in the statement while a senior USA defense official said China had lobbied members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to avoid any reference.

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Mr Chang made the remarks, reported by China’s official Xinhua news agency yesterday (Nov 4), in a meeting with Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani on the sidelines of a conference of Southeast Asian defence ministers in Kuala Lumpur.

It is the first time that a high-level South Korean official has commented on the South China Sea conflicts in the presence of all three defense ministers from the United States, China and Japan.

Beijing considers any criticism of its disputed claims and the island-building campaign as a challenge to its sovereignty.

After much behind-the-scenes arm-twisting from both the USA and China, the defense chiefs failed to reach a consensus on the territorial claims of each nation, deciding to scrap a joint statement that traditionally ends their annual meeting.

The regional defense forum, held biennially, involves the 10-member ASEAN, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russian Federation and the United States.

The larger gathering had ended on a bitter note, after ASEAN member countries could not agree on whether they should include a clause on China’s South China Sea activities in their final statement.

Defence Secretary Ash Carter may also visit a U.S. Navy ship during his visit to Asia, but is not expected to be on board during any Navy freedom-of-navigation operations, the official said.

Carter, who has been maintaining that U.S. will continue to fly and sail through the SCS to assert freedom of navigation, said Washington attaches great importance to the US-China military relations, and is willing to enhance cooperation between the two countries in all areas.

During that bilateral talk, Chang described a “bottom line” below which it would defend the islands.

He harkened back to the aircraft carrier’s presidential namesake in stressing that the United States was in the region to stay, and that China should become “part of the security system of Asia and not to stand apart from it”.

The dispute arises because of Beijing’s insistence of its sovereignty over almost all of the strategic waterway, through which about one-third of the world’s traded oil passes and whose seabed contains coveted energy and mineral deposits.

India today called for a peaceful solution to the disputes in the South China Sea region through consensus by all parties, in accordance with the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, to ensure its effective implementation.

China and its allies in ASEAN have previously opposed declarations at the grouping’s meetings expressing concern at Beijing’s maritime conduct.

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As the China-U.S. bickering grew further, ASEAN countries suggested listing the issue in a Chairman’s Declaration, but China vetoed it as well.

No joint declaration at Asia defence meet amid sea tensions with China