Foreign and defense ministers of Japan and Australia, at a meeting in Sydney Sunday, reaffirmed their countries’ common stance of opposing China’s unilateral actions in the South China Sea, such as the construction of artificial islands, and in the East China Sea. “No one should link such military facilities with efforts to militarise the South China Sea”, he said. China is building as many as three airstrips there, prompting concern in the US that its actions will provide it with military bases and risk hindering the free movement of shipping.
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Beijing claims control over most of the South China Sea, which includes most of the sea routes supplying China with energy resources, along with a number of island rich in natural resources. Earlier this month, U.S. B-52 bombers flew near a few of the islands, signaling Washington’s determination to challenge Beijing’s claim.
Premier Li said a few countries outside the region are conducting a high-profile intervention.
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.
Furthermore, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to deal with the complicated issue with a dual-track approach: The rows are to be resolved by directly concerned parties through consultation and negotiation, while China and ASEAN members work together to uphold regional peace and stability.
Many countries in the region, including the Philippines and Vietnam, deny China’s claim to most of the South China Sea.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swaroop said that the South China Sea issue also figured in the bilateral talks between Mr. Modi and the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe on Saturday.
The US and others have called on Beijing to halt the construction, saying they are destabilizing an increasingly militarized region.
Chinese dredging vessels operate in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands. The Subi Reef is one of seven that China has artificially reinforced to support its claim on the archipelago and the sea around it.
“It is the responsibility of each country to help out in attaining stability instead of contributing to the tension in our region”, Aquino said in obvious reference to China, which is reclaiming land and building structures in the disputed areas in the South China Sea.
Among the topics up for discussion on the first day of dialogue were combatting terrorism and the territorial disputes on the South China Sea.
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He said predominantly Islamic countries such as Malaysia have a duty to expose as lies the “ideology propagated by these extremists that is the cause of this sadistic violence”.
