Southeast Asian nations yesterday expressed serious concern about growing international tension over disputed waters in the South China Sea.
China claims most of the sea, but Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam have rival claims to all or portions of the region. Friction has increased over China’s recent deployment of missiles and fighter jets to the disputed Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島).
“Ministers remained seriously concerned over recent and ongoing developments,” 10-member ASEAN said in a statement after a regular meeting of the group’s foreign ministers in Laos.
Land reclamation and escalating activity has increased tensions and could undermine peace, security and stability in the region, ASEAN said in the statement.
The US has criticized China’s building of artificial islands and facilities in the sea and has sailed warships close to disputed territory to assert the right to freedom of navigation.
The White House on Friday pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to expand his non-militarization pledge to cover the entire South China Sea.
During a state visit to the US in September last year, Xi insisted that “China does not intend to pursue militarization” in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
“We think it would be good if that non-militarization pledge, if he [Xi] would extend that across the entire South China Sea,” US National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink told a forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “We’re going to encourage our Chinese friends and other countries in the region to refrain from taking steps that raise tensions.”
Vietnam, which accused China of violating its sovereignty with the missile deployment, yesterday echoed the US call.
“We call for non-militarization in the South China Sea,” Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh told reporters after meeting with his ASEAN colleagues.
The group agreed to seek a meeting between China and ASEAN’s foreign ministers to discuss the South China Sea and other issues, Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong said.
China’s maritime claims are ASEAN’s most contentious issue, as its members struggle to balance mutual support with their growing economic relations with Beijing. China is the biggest trade partner for many ASEAN nations.
Vietnam and China compete for influence over landlocked Laos, which has no maritime claims, but finds itself in the difficult position of dealing with neighbors at odds over the South China Sea. Laos is tasked with finding common ground on the issue as the ASEAN chair this year.
Laotian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Thongloun Sisoulith, who is to take office as prime minister next month, played down the challenge.
“We are a close friend of Vietnam and China. We try to solve problems in a friendly way,” he told reporters yesterday. “We are in the middle, but it’s not a problem.”
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