However, due to the delicate nature of the issue and out of consideration for China, Nakatani did not state in detail what he said about the South China Sea after his meeting with Chang.
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Washington’s falling out with Beijing over the South China Sea triggered a change of plans at the ASEAN forum, with a decision to drop plans for a ceremonial joint statement after Beijing opposed any mention of the issue.
Defence ministers from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and regional partners including the United States, China and Russian Federation met Wednesday morning in Kuala Lumpur for an annual dialogue first launched in 2013. Beijing claimed sovereignty over the land and the 12 nautical mile zone surrounding the islands.
Officials this week said the USA and Japan were pushing to get concerns about the South China Sea included in the joint statement.
A USA military official said Wednesday that Carter and Malaysian Defense Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, will cruise on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday amid growing tensions over the disputed sea.
Responding to a question about a statement on the Chinese Defence Ministry’s blog that blamed countries outside the region for the failure to reach a consensus, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said that the Joint Declaration was something decided by ASEAN members.
Two senior USA diplomats, who participated in the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), revealed that the caucus was divided between countries that agreed with China’s stance and those who supported the US and Japan, according to the NY Times.
China called the action provocative.
The most recent battle comes following Beijing angered by sailing a warship via a location of the South China Sea.
China has been constructing artificial islands on top of the coral reef habitats of the Spratly Islands over the past year. “As we can see that overall situation in the SCS is stable and there has never been any problem about freedom of navigation and over flights in the SCS”, she said.
An ASEAN official confirmed to AFP there would be no joint declaration, but that host Malaysia would issue its own statement likely to touch on the maritime issues. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
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In the declaration, which ASEAN and China signed in 2002, they vowed to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes, and to respect freedom of navigation in and overflight above the East Sea.
