China won’t stop building in South China Sea

That has prompted concerns in Washington and across the region that Beijing is trying to militarize its claims in the South China Sea.

Obama on Saturday called on countries to stop building artificial islands and militarizing their claims and said the United States would continue to assert its freedom of navigation rights in the sea.

In an initial ruling last month, the arbitration court said it has the power to determine whether seven reefs in the South China Sea that Beijing has transformed into islands can be considered part of Chinese territories.

Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin reiterated China’s position that its construction of artificial islands in the sea was created to “provide public service” to the region by helping ships and fishermen and disaster relief efforts.

The true objective of the USA intrusion is to test how China will react to this kind of provocations, Liu told a press briefing at the end of the East Asia Summit in Malaysia. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims over the sea. Of the features, 42 have been illegally occupied by three of China’s neighbors.

Obama also stressed United States support for the code, and said that “for the sake of regional stability, claimants should halt reclamation, new construction, and militarisation of disputed areas”. Hong’s remarks came in response to a question on Modi’s comments on the dispute in the South China Sea at the ASEAN summit in which he had called for early adoption of the COC.

“In practice, we have virtually eliminated tariff barriers between us”, said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

But despite that, the region as a whole is increasingly dependent on China’s economic clout and the statement did not directly criticize Beijing’s continued building of artificial islands and other features in the sea, one of the world’s most important commercial shipping corridors that is also believed to hold rich oil and mineral deposits.

Describing the Asean-related meetings as fruitful, Liu said that among others the Asean-China Summit adopted a five-year action plan to implement a strategic partnership for peace and prosperity over the 2016-2020 period.

The partners want to maintain stability, maritime security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, according to their joint statement.

Asia-Pacific leaders opened a final summit Sunday with attention expected to swing back to the maritime standoff in the South China Sea, closing a marathon week of diplomacy largely overshadowed by the recent jihadist attacks.

On land reclamation in the disputed waters, the Prime Minister said that several leaders had raised the matter and expressed concern that such action would change the status quo.