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.
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Responding to a reporter’s question about China’s comment on this, the Information Office of China’s Ministry of National Defense said that China regrets the failure to publish the joint declaration at this meeting.
Hishammuddin also said yesterday that Direct Communication Link will ensure speedy response to a crisis situation in the region among ASEAN Defence Ministers.
A few of them, notably Myanmar and Laos, have economic and political ties to Beijing and are reluctant to anger China, especially when they have no territorial claims of their own in the South China Sea.
“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”.
Carter noted that in a September visit to the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he has no intention of pursuing militarization of the artificial islands his country is creating in the South China Sea.
ASEAN members value a policy of consensus decisions and noninterference in each other’s internal affairs, making it reluctant to pressure recalcitrant members.
South Korea agreed to establish an emergency hotline with China’s navy and military, but is siding with the United States and Japan in their opposition against Chinese activities in the South China Sea.
The head of the US Pacific Command Admiral Harry Harris said Tuesday that the United States military will continue to patrol the surroundings of China’s man-made islands in the Spratly Islands archipelago.
China’s territorial claims are widely disputed. The islands in the SCS have been China’s territory since ancient times and are the heritage of the Chinese ancestors, and China has no need to demonstrate its sovereignty over the islands by construction, he was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency. The five countries are backed by U.S. in staking their claims countering that of China.
During my week stay at the Air War Collage, the major theme was the study of China’s increasing belligerence in its efforts to expand influence and control of the South China Sea and its resources.
Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan all also have various claims, a few overlapping, though none are as extensive as Beijing’s.
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Yi Xiaoguang, deputy chief of the general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, on Monday urged the U.S. “not to do things that undermine the big picture of the China-US relationship” when asked about potential future US Navy actions in the South China Sea. He said China is keen to invite Payne to visit China next year, steadily promote the communication and cooperation between the two armies in professional areas like peacekeeping, army training, humanitarian rescue and relief, strengthen personnel exchanges like communication between middle and young age officers, and two-way visit and learning between students.
