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China says United States guilty of “political provocation” in South China Sea
US President Barack Obama met yesterday with his Asean counterparts, and a joint statement emerged that stressed the need to maintain freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea.
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He reiterated China’s position that its construction of artificial islands in the sea was created to “provide public service” to the region by helping ships, fishing craft and disaster relief efforts.
Washington has said the move was meant to stress the right to free passage in waters China claims, but Liu called it a “political provocation”.
Beijing is allegedly changing the Spratly archipelago by turning its reefs into artificial islands and also constructing airfields and other facilities on some of them.
China has called on Southeast Asian countries to engage in direct talks over disputed South China Sea islands amid growing tensions in the region. At the end of October, the USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, challenged territorial limits around one of the islands.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak put in perspective that when it comes to freedom of navigation and overflight, all countries agreed that there should not be any interference and that there should be respect.
Liu said yesterday that China would carry on building facilities on the islands over the next few years.
An worldwide tribunal on Tuesday began hearing a case brought by the Philippines over disputed islands in the South China Sea, in an increasingly bitter row with China.
Heads of state gathering in Kuala Lumpur were treated to a gala dinner following a long day of meetings at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia summit.
“We believe that, as a rules-based community, Asean should not allow any country, no matter how powerful, to claim an entire sea as its own and to use force or the threat thereof in asserting such a claim”, he said.
“We need to show global solidarity to address… the common enemy of [Islamic State] Daesh, some other extremists and terrorist groups”, he said, referring to Islamic State. Officials have also said that facilities on the islands such as lighthouses will help ships from other countries navigate the waters and assist in search and rescue operations. He opened the weekend series of meetings by calling on world leaders to confront Islamist extremism.
Najib says he’s also very encouraged that all members of the East Asia Summit have been actively involved since a year ago in strengthening the organization.
Earlier at the summit, China came under renew-ed criticism on Sunday over its rising profile in the South China Sea as it jostled with the United States for regional influence.
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While Beijing managed to tamp down the issue earlier last week at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which featured numerous same leaders, that same result appeared less likely at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.