He said apart from discussions on China’s claims on the South China Sea islands, other issues of importance, such as countering terrorism and maritime security, were shared in the meeting between Asean defence ministers and their counterparts from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russian Federation and the United States. Both the United States and China took part in the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) as dialogue partners this week.
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Asean defence meetings have in the past did not create joint declarations over the exact same problem.
The 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) has established a hotline to resolve maritime disputes and to ensure the line of communications between the countries remain open during a crisis, reports the Star.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Divisions within Asia over China’s claims in the disputed South China Sea spilled over Wednesday to a meeting of USA and Asian defense ministers, where China insisted the group make no public mention of the strategic waters in a joint declaration intended as a public display of unity.
The U.S. replied to the criticism by stating it would sail and fly wherever it wants in worldwide waters and airspace.
The US 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.
The most recent battle comes following Beijing angered by sailing a warship via a location of the South China Sea.
The U.S. Navy’s challenge last week to China’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea was not designed as a military threat, the head of U.S. Pacific military forces said Tuesday in a speech about preventing U.S.-China disputes from escalating to conflict.
Still, several Chinese military analysts have suggested in the past few days that China-US defence ties won’t be impaired.
“I had no expectation that everyone would agree on the South China Sea or any other issue”, Carter told reporters.
We will respond firmly to the deliberate provocations of any country, Hua said.
“The reason the signing ceremony is in doubt is because the Chinese lobbied to keep any reference to the South China Sea out of the final joint declaration”, said a senior defence official traveling with Mr Carter, adding: “A number of Asean countries felt that was inappropriate”.
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Mr Carter met with his Chinese counterpart, Chang Wanquan on Tuesday evening, and United States officials said afterward that Mr Chang repeated the Chinese government’s earlier criticisms of U.S. naval movements in the South China Sea. “The South China Sea is not, and will not, be an exception”. But tensions have rapidly escalated due to China’s ongoing land reclamation and muscle-flexing in SCS, much to the dismay of Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and others.
