This is in rerence to how of the the bloc of 10 countries which comprises ASEAN, only four hold territorial disputes with China.
Advertisement
The war games were apparently designed to keep the U.S. forces, which have been beefing up surveillance activities in the South China Sea, in check.
In recent months the U.S. has been raising concerns over China’s project to convert reefs and shoals in the Spratlys into manmade islands. But Washington has said it would call for a halt to aggressive actions by China and other rival nations to allow a diplomatic solution to a problem that threatens regional stability. China rejects any U.S. involvement.
Neither the United States nor China are members of ASEAN, but have been invited to participate alongside other countries outside the group.
But delegates say China will not be able to escape the issue in Kuala Lumpur.
With the disputed area becoming Asia’s biggest potential military flashpoint, China and Southeast Asian nations have agreed to set up a foreign ministers’ hotline to tackle emergencies in the South China Sea, a senior official of the ASEAN grouping said on Friday.
“We are calling for the termination of such activities, which are of concern to us, and eroding trust and confidence among the parties, and complicating the very process of negotiating” the code of conduct, Minh told The Associated Press.
He reiterated Beijing’s stance that the island-building work was in Chinese territory.
Malaysia the chair of Asean for 2015.
He confirmed that the ministers had talked extensively about the issue and explored “the possibility of putting in place preventive measures” to avoid future escalation. He declined to give details.
Singapore’s foreign minister K. Shanmugam also told reporters in Malaysia the maritime issue cannot be ignored, adding that Singapore is not happy with an informal code of conduct signed by ASEAN and China in 2002. No time frame or related steps for drawing up the envisioned code of conduct were spelled out, however, meaning that the China-ASEAN talks failed to make any substantive progress.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and Thursday.
“This can be a discussion board during which important safety points have to be introduced up and mentioned”, Toner informed reporters, including that the U.S. would view as “provocative” any strikes to “considerably improve the bodily measurement or performance of disputed options, or to militarize them”.
Also present were his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, as well as dignitaries and representatives from the Asean member states.
Shihoko Goto, senior associate for Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington, said that reaching a consensus of rules will be critical in upcoming talks, especially given the new attempts at construction made by China.
On August 5, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with his counterparts from ASEAN.
“The consultation will now enter a new stage and we hope to deal with crucial and complicated issues, including identifying common elements for the preparation of the framework of the CoC”.
“It is essential if we’re to build a truly integrated Asean, which is why inclusiveness and sustainability must be at the heart of our policies going forward”, Najib said.
Advertisement
The Philippines – which has asked an global tribunal to declare as invalid China’s claims to virtually all of the South China Sea – led the way by backing a US proposal for a halt to all reclamation, construction and aggression in the potentially resource-rich waters.
