“No one has the right to point their fingers at China”, said Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the joint staff department of China’s Central Military Commission, as he faced a string of questions at one public forum at the summit on Sunday.
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“China’s policy on the South China Sea remains unchanged and will not change”.
“The Asia-Pacific countries should refuse the Cold War mentality, deepen and expand security cooperation featuring no-conflict, no-confrontation, no targeting against a third party, mutual benefit and win-win”, Sun said.
“China and ASEAN are capable of stabilizing the region”, he said.
China pushed back strongly against USA criticism of its stance on maritime disputes at Asia’s largest security conference Sunday, bracing against growing global pressure and fortifying its intent to assert greater clout as a major power.
“We do not make trouble, but we have no fear of trouble”, Sun told the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where more than 600 security, military and government delegates gathered over three days.
Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo said China will not be bullied in the South China Sea and will not back down over a pending United Nations ruling over its claims in a vital trade route.
Washington and Beijing, meanwhile, have clashed in recent weeks over USA presence in the region, culminating in an incident in which two Chinese fighter jets carried out what the Pentagon said was an “unsafe” intercept of an American military reconnaissance aircraft. Carter praised the security arrangement and the role played by America in forging it.
“As a serviceman I am more than clear what it means”, Admiral Sun said.
Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne did not attend the conference, she was campaigning in Townsville.
Mongolia depends on Russian Federation for three-quarters of its oil and China for most of its trade, but sees United States relations as a hedge against its neighbours. “We work closely with the USA on issues of regional and global security, including counter terrorism and the defeat of ISIL and other terrorist organisations”, a spokesperson for Ms Payne said.
“Nations not directly concerned in the maritime disputes should not sabotage our efforts to find a peaceful solution out of their own self-interest”, he said.
Kerry says the US doesn’t take sides on competing claims. “We also call on all sides to submit claims according to worldwide law and processes”.
In Mongolia on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the establishment of such a zone would be considered “a provocative and destabilizing act”.
When Beijing declared a similar zone in the East China Sea, over islands also claimed by Tokyo, it marked a diplomatic low-point for the China-Australia relationship.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during a recent visit to Canada, expressed China’s welcome if Manila sincerely wants to come back to the track of dialogue and negotiations.
Nations including Japan, India, France and Vietnam joined calls for greater respect for global law to resolve worsening tensions over the South China Sea, a dig at Beijing which has said it will not accept any ruling by a U.N. -backed court on the dispute. -China bilateral relationship. Moreover, regional states and the United States alike are eagerly awaiting the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s verdict in Philippines v.
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The South China Sea, an important shipping lane, is subject to territorial disputes involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
