Japan is “seriously concerned” about Beijing’s increasingly muscular claims in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Asian leaders on Wednesday.
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A UN-backed tribunal ruled in July that China’s claims to most of the sea had no legal basis and that its construction of artificial islands in the disputed waters was illegal.
The Philippines has expressed concern about Beijing’s massive island-building over reefs, some of them claimed by Manila, in the South China Sea.
The surveillance photos, taken by the Philippine Air Force last Saturday, were released by the Department of National Defense (DND) as leaders of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (Asean) gathered in Vientiane, Laos to discuss the maritime row, among other regional issues.
The Philippines Defense Ministry published photos of 11 Chinese ships near Scarborough Shoal that include vessels that some reports indicated appear designed for dredging operations – a key indicator Beijing is ignoring US and global calls for a halt to island-building on disputed reefs and islands.
China supposedly backed down from developing the Scarborough area after Obama expressed US opposition to their plans in March, in part because thousands of Americans are scheduled for deployment in the Philippines as part of a new defense agreement, and having a Chinese military outpost only 140 miles from Luzon would be disturbing.
On the eve of the summit last week China began deploying a large group of ships to Scarborough Shoal, a rock formation it seized from the Philippines in 2012 and may now seek to build into an artificial island. The court stated that Beijing’s actions violated global law and the Philippines’ right to explore its resources in the Scarborough Shoal.
The comment from Thailand, which has historically maintained a neutral stance on the South China Sea, came hours after the Philippines released pictures showing what it said were Chinese boats near a disputed shoal in the sea. In fact, right after the Permanent Court of Arbitartion ruled against China in a case taken up by the Philippines, India issued a statement urging concerned parties to show utmost respect for the verdict. China claims most of South China Sea, but ASEAN members like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also make rival claims.
The lurking fear that China is now hegemonic, while it remained adamant after the PCA ruling, could undermine Asean, said Professor Muhammad Abu Bakar, local expert in Asean affairs.
“Some issues in the region will be also discussed such as the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, anti-terrorism and extremist violence”.
On June 3, 2016 in Beijing, Li said during a state visit by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni that China supports ASEAN’s integration process and the construction of the ASEAN community, adding that the China-Cambodia friendship complements China-ASEAN relations.
USA officials fear a Chinese military airfield at the shoal would enable China to enforce a threatened air defense identification zone in the sea.
US President Barack Obama reportedly directly warned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a meeting in March not to push ahead with any island-building there.
Duterte is scheduled to attend an East Asian summit meeting in Laos on Tuesday.
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Beijing has rejected the ruling and continued its activities.
