ASEAN says seriously concerned about rising South China Sea tensions

“Harris is raising alarm about what could happen if there’s not sufficient push back, that’s what he’s trying to provoke here, a more robust response from the region and outside the region”, said Bonnie Glaser, a senior Asia advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It is also claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

“We have serious concerns about that”, he said, when asked about China’s increasing military activity in the region. He has called for more flyovers and patrols.

The weapons that China is placing on those islands could require the United States to reconsider its own presence in the region, Richardson and Neller said Friday at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution, public policy research group in Washington, D.C. The Navy already wants to have 60 percent of its planned fleet of 308 U.S. warships committed to the Pacific by 2020.

The foreign ministers are urging for the establishment of the Code of Conduct that lays down rules of engagement in the South China Sea to be expedited. Beijing rejects the authority of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, even though it has ratified the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea on which the case is based.

“China should use its strength to guarantee freedom of navigation, not to challenge it. We deplore all unilateral alterations to the status quo; and we expect to exercise freedom of navigation in accordance with the well-understood rules”, Abbott said.

On Tuesday, Harris said in comments coinciding with a visit to Washington by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China was “changing the operational landscape” in the South China Sea by deploying missiles and radar as part of an effort to militarily dominate East Asia.

The Philippines and Vietnam, both claimants to the disputed sea, were among those who voiced concern over China’s land reclamations and “escalation of activities” which could undermine peace, security and stability in the region, some ministers said.

“But you’re not stopping China from militarizing these islands”, a reporter told Harris. Recent satellite images show China may be installing a high-frequency radar system in the Spratly Islands that could significantly boost its ability control the disputed South China Sea, a United States think tank reported on Monday.

“Of course all these things raise our concern and its effect on freedom of navigation, over-flight and unimpeded flow of commerce”.

Laos is tasked with finding common ground on the issue as the ASEAN chair in 2016.

One diplomat said Asean ministers are “seriously concerned” by recent and ongoing developments in the South China Sea.

Wang met with US national security adviser Susan Rice on Wednesday and they “candidly discussed” maritime issues, the White House said in a statement. He said the general situation now is stable. “It is very necessary for China to deploy defense facilities on the islands and reefs of the South China Sea”, he added. “I’ll pay attention to the threat”, he said.

On the recent terror attack in Jakarta, the ministers reaffirmed “Asean’s commitment to working with the worldwide community to further intensify its cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”. Last year, their mutual trade volume amounted to $558.4 billion and China is now the Americans’ biggest trade partner as well as its biggest creditor. Taiwan is also a claimant.