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.”
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS