China’s said on Wednesday it welcomed a proposal by the incoming Philippine government for bilateral talks on the disputed South China Sea.
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The analyst said “the United States of America and its people do not want war with China in the Southeast Asia area”.
“I noted the latest statements of the Philippine side”.
“I think if they can do this, and if they can stop provocative acts targeted at China’s sovereignty and security interests, then the USA can play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea and promote a lowering of the temperature on this issue”.
However, the USA takes no sides on the competing territorial claims but ensures freedom of navigation and flights in the sea and has sent warships near Chinese-held islands.
The rival claimants have been fretting over what they see as China’s expansionism as it rushes to exert sovereignty over the vital waterway, a major global shipping route believed to have large oil and gas reserves and through which about US$ 5 trillion in trade passes each year. Yet he has also played to nationalist sentiment by saying he would ride a jet ski to plant a Philippine flag on disputed islands in the sea.
Since the election, Mr. Duterte has adopted a more conciliatory tone on the sea dispute than President Benigno S.C. Aquino III, who brought China before an worldwide arbitration tribunal that is set to deliver a ruling in the next few months.
The revelation came ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a security forum attended by defense officials from various nations, including Admiral Sun Jianguo and US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter.
China will bring up topics related to its major concerns, including the Taiwan question, Tibet and maritime security and it will respond to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue which the U.S. is expected to raise, state-run “China Daily” reported, quoting Chinese officials as saying. The U.S.is establishing “a new normal level of activity or interaction” that comes with Russia’s and China’s “return to great power competition”, he said.
The Chinese defense ministry told the newspaper that it was “the right of a sovereign state” to designate an ADIZ.
Cui expressed his biggest worry that China’s policy on the South China Sea has been grossly misperceived as a strategic move to challenge US dominance in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.
He said EDCA can also be a framework for a new era of cooperation across the spectrum of the security operations in the Asia Pacific region. “The reality is not that China is trying to drive anyone out, but that there are attempts to deny China’s legitimate and expanding interests in its own region”. Both Japan and the United States refused to abide by the ADIZ, with American officials reminding Beijing that any attack on a Japanese aircraft would force the United States, bound by treaty to defend Japan, to attack China.
China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva Ma Zhaoxu stressed that the South China Sea issue must be resolved peacefully through constructive and meaningful negotiations with neighbouring countries.
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Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, said that for the first time in 25 years, the U.S.is facing competition for maritime superiority as China and Russian Federation build up their navies.
