ASEAN and East Asia summit: South China Sea disputes high on agenda

Raising a five-point proposal on the South China Sea at the 10th East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, he called for outside powers to “play a positive and constructive role and refrain from taking action that may cause tension in the region”.

On the stand of Asean leaders regarding the issue of South China Sea’s maritime and territorial disputes, Najib said they reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability.

The United States and China collided again over Beijing’s land reclamation activities in the South China Sea, as Japanese officials are becoming increasingly vocal in their opposition to China’s sovereignty claims in the high-traffic waterway.

China has pushed back on USA objections and said that while it is building “military installations”, the facilities are to protect civilians.

Obama and Lee met as the American president wraps up a nine-day trip to Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia.

The defense minister’s visit to Hawaii to meet with senior USA military leaders was his first since Japan’s parliament in September approved legislation loosening post-World War II constraints on its military.

“It makes no sense to relate construction on islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands to militarization”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said in a press briefing.

“We’re particularly concerned at the prospect of militarisation of artificial islands and structures”.

He also said that China would continue to build military facilities on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea for defence and protection of the islands and reefs. Li said, “Freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea has never been a problem”.

Washington has warned that traffic through the South China Sea, a key conduit for world trade, could be threatened by China’s moves. Any disruption will affect the trade, which uses the route.

“For the US, conducting operations to ensure the freedom of navigation, this is strictly based on worldwide law… and Japan is supporting the United States of America in this regard”. “China”™s claim to more than 80 percent of the waters clashes with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Last week, a news surfaced that Russian Federation has agreed to sell its 24 most advanced and sophisticated combat aircraft Sukhoi-35 to Beijing.

He adds that the group will encourage deeper dialogue on political and strategic issues to promote trust, saying “this could not come at a more critical time”. The recent closeness of Beijing and Moscow has raised the question that has China chosen the US’ former cold era enemy, Russia, to counter the United States and weaken its presence in the Asia-Pacific region?