Kerry blasts Beijing over South China Sea ‘militarisation’

In a joint press conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Thai Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn stated that non-regional countries should refrain from actions that may escalate discord in the South China Sea.

India on Thursday supported the stand taken by some South-East Asian nations that have called for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where China is locked in maritime disputes with many of its neighbours.

The Chinese foreign ministry made it clear that the halt to the land reclamation was not an acquiescence to pressure, whether from the United States or from Asean rival claimants and that the construction of infrastructure on the islands was within the rights of China, as it had “undisputed sovereignty” over the South China Sea. He did not elaborate.

“As for the initiative to freeze the construction of islands and reefs of the South China Sea, it was proposed not today, but last year or even earlier, but there has not been any consensus reached up to now”, Wang had said on Monday during a trip to Singapore.

Wang’s remarks at a regional meeting in Kuala Lumpur appeared designed to defuse tensions with other countries that lay claim to parts of the sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

Mr Kerry also called on all nations with overlapping claims to the region, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brunei, to make a joint commitment to halt further land reclamation and the construction of new facilities.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday proposed in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur three initiatives to maintain peace and stability of the South China Sea.

That move may not be enough for the more vocal opponents of China’s actions on the disputed area, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

Third, countries pledge to exercise and safeguard their freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea in accordance with worldwide law, the Chinese foreign minister noted.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario had told his Asean counterparts on the same day that China’s “massive reclamation activities… have undermined peace, security and stability in the South China Sea“.

China claims as its sovereign territory almost the whole thing of the South China Sea, a 1.

Wang told the meeting that “China can not accept the results of any arbitration”. He encouraged China and other claimants to “create space for diplomacy”, said the official, who asked not to be identified in line with departmental policy.

Other issues had also held up the statement, he said without elaborating.

Although Kerry believes that his conversation with Wang was constructive, the two diplomats did not agree on any specific proposals, US officials said. “We shouldn’t allow the South China Sea region to be destabilized”.

But US military chiefs have said publicly they believe China is building forward military posts on the islands.

According to reports, China’s land reclamation in contested waters had irked Southeast Asian nations. Incidentally in Delhi, Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Senior Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the Philippines, on Thursday gave a detailed presentation in the Indian Council of World Affairs on China’s claims in SCS region and lambasted such attempts by Beijing.