Speaking at the conclusion of a weeklong meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Malaysia, Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin insisted that China had no intent to militarize the disputed maritime area.
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“To build necessary military defense facilities on islands far away from our mainland is both required by the national defense need and the need to safeguard our islands and reefs”, Liu said.
The maritime issue has become the stage for a big-power confrontation between China and the USA, which warns that Beijing’s actions could threaten freedom of navigation. Tensions have mounted since China transformed reefs in the South China Sea into small islands capable of supporting military facilities, a move the U.S. says threatens freedom of navigation in a region through which one-third of the world’s oil passes.
Japan and Australia on Sunday called on China and other Asian countries engaged in the South China Sea territorial dispute to avoid any unilateral steps that would change the status quo in the region. At the end of October, the USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed around one of them.
“This time, in a very high-profile manner, the USA sent military vessels within 12 nautical miles of China’s islands and reefs”, Mr Liu said.
In the meeting, which was also attended by U.S. President Obama, Li also encouraged countries to respect worldwide law, the United Nations Charter, and the postwar order to protect peace and stability in the world, particularly in the South China Sea.
China’s push to expand tiny atolls in the South China Sea into full islands capable of supporting a sustained military presence also has hung over the meetings.
Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang raised a five-part proposal to uphold and promote peace and stability in the South China Sea, calling on countries outside the region to “refrain from taking actions” that may increase tension in the region. “In the wake of the events of Paris, it was good to see President Obama make the trip, during which he also reiterated the importance of Asia to American policy”, he said.
“Our position is clear: we will not participate to or accept the arbitration”, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular briefing earlier Tuesday.
“Allow me to first thank concerned ASEAN member states for their support in last week’s Philippine Chairmanship of the APEC”.
Medvedev said “it is now clear we can only fight this threat by bringing our forces together and by working through such global institutions as the United Nations”.
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In Kuala Lumpur, Southeast Asia leaders will declare the establishment today of an “Asean Economic Community” (AEC), inspired by Europe. “Now we have to assure freer movements and removal of barriers that hinder growth and investment”.
