China’s President Xi Jinping shakes hands with US Secretary of State John Kerry (right) as US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew looks on during the opening session of the US – China Strategic and Economic Dialogues, in Beijing, on June 6, 2016.
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In addition to Taiwan, claimants to disputed territory in the South China Sea include China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
On the same day, defense ministers from participating countries had also vouched on a side in the debate between China and the United States’ Asian allies.
Kerry says doing so would raise tensions between China and other Asian countries.
On the last day of Asia’s biggest security summit, Admiral Sun Jianguo said China will not be bullied, including over a pending global court ruling over its claims in the vital trade route.
The verbal sparring by both sides on the South China Sea issues has cast a shadow over the annual bilateral strategic and economic dialogue that starts in Beijing today.
“Countries from outside should honor their commitments and not make irresponsible remarks on issues involving territorial sovereignty”, Hua said on Saturday in response to remarks of US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani at the meeting in Singapore.
“We must await the decision from (the tribunal) before we start talking to China because otherwise, the judges are going to think twice about what it is that we’re doing”, former foreign minister Albert del Rosario, who filed the complaint in The Hague in 2013, told reporters.
“We believe that it is critical that no country move unilaterally to militarise the region”, added Mr Kerry.
Said Victor Gao, director of the China National Association of International Studies: “Fundamentally, what’s going to dictate the future course of development in the South China Sea is not this illegal arbitration”.
Duterte said his proposal was in anticipation of the tribunal’s decision, which the Philippines hopes will challenge the legality of China’s claim to nearly the whole of the South China Sea. Sun derided this comment, indicating that it arose from a “prejudiced, Cold War mentality”.
With countries such as the United Kingdom and Netherlands sending ships to the area from time to time, France is interested in better coordinating patrols to ensure there is no long gap without an European Union presence in the area, according to the official, who asked not to be identified, citing policy. We hope the USA will also listen to the other countries.
Beijing has rejected the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s jurisdiction over the issue, refused to take part in the proceedings and vowed to ignore its impending ruling.
“Excess capacity is not just a domestic issue in China”, said Mr Lew.
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Beijing’s race for legitimacy in the disputed Spratly Islands, however, has cast a long shadow over the South China Sea.
