The 18 ministers, who gathered in Subang on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, had been expected to adopt the “Kuala Lumpur Joint Declaration” but eventually an ASEAN chairman’s statement was issued instead.
Advertisement
Beijing has rebuked Washington over the patrol, while China’s navy commander has warned that a minor incident could spark war in the South China Sea if the USA does not stop its “provocative acts”.
China and several other Asian nations have overlapping claims to islands in the South China Sea, a major shipping route which is also thought to be rich in mineral resources.
In July, Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, was on board a Boeing P-8 surveillance plane as it carried out a seven-hour flight over the South China Sea.
The United States and China clashed over Beijing’s island-building activities at the meeting, leading to a cancelation of a joint statement.
Wednesday’s gathering brings together the 10 defence ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with ministers from countries such as the United States, Japan, China, India and Australia.
“Defense cooperation and exchanges (between Japan and China) are necessary for stability in the Asian region”, Nakatani said after the meeting.
“The situation in the South China Sea and recent developments there have attracted interest and concern”, the minister said.
The U.S. asserts that China is militarizing these formations, but Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Barack Obama at the White House in September that China has no such intentions.
What’s new and problematic, he said, is China’s land reclamation and militarisation of reefs and islets.
Forum host Malaysia had initially agreed to include a mention of the South China Sea in the final statement, a Philippine defense official traveling with the defense minister said.
“Our understanding is there will be no joint declaration”, a USA defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Understandably a number of ASEAN countries felt that was inappropriate”.
But both China and the United States pointed the finger at each other.
However, the Chinese side says a few “individual countries outside the region” attempted to forcefully add content not discussed during the meeting into the declaration.
A copy of remarks by Hishammuddin, which appeared to have been issued to media by mistake and then retracted, stated that ASEAN sought a “peaceful resolution to the disputes… collisions in open seas and skies must be avoided at all costs”.
Kyodo News reported Chang also met with Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in what is the first defense ministerial meeting in over four years.
Mr Carter defended United States navy patrols in the contested waters that China objects to, saying that Washington has been sailing in the South China Sea for decades.
Advertisement
The USA official stressed that the Roosevelt would be far from any of the reclaimed Chinese “islands” at the time of Carter’s visit, and the ship was not conducting the sort of freedom of navigation cruise performed by the USS Lassen.
