China tells Obama to keep out of South China Sea disputes

Obama said he and Aquino discussed the impact that China’s artificial islands have on regional stability.

“We agreed on the need for bold steps to lower tensions including pledging to halt further reclamation, new construction, and militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea”, he said in a joint press briefing with Aquino, according to Tempo.

Obama earlier assured the commitment of the United States to defend its longtime ally, the Philippines.

As reported by the BBC, Obama was speaking on the sidelines of an economic summit of Asia Pacific nations (APEC), which opened in Manila on November 18.

The waters separating China from the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia carry a few of the world’s busiest shipping lanes as well as potentially rich oil and gas reserves.

Several main roads were closed around Kuala Lumpur and security was tightened ahead of the arrival of Obama and other leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korean President Park Geun Hye and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The ongoing South China Sea disputes and Paris attacks are expected to overshadow the usually business-focused APEC summit agenda.

“It is unfortunate that Philippine-China relations have come to this point”. “My visit here underscored our shared commitment to the security of the waters of this region and to freedom of navigation”.

Xi Jinping and Barack Obama [Photo by Pool/Getty Images]An Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (E.D.C.A.) between the Philippines and its US treaty partner (the Philippine constitution disallows war as an instrument of national policy) is mired in a legal challenge by parties politicking for the next elections. The US has recently responded with military maneuvers near the island to show it won’t allow freedom of navigation in that region to be compromised.

For one, Philippine President Benigno Aquino, the most vocal voice against China’s expansion in the South China Sea, had promised to be a “perfect host”. Even the Philippines felt the ripple effects.

Beijing’s claim to nearly the entire South China Sea is shown on Chinese maps with a nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. While observing the niceties required of an APEC host, the Philippines continues to grapple with the problem of lost assets within its exclusive economic zone.