Obama calls on China to halt militarization, reclamation in South China Sea

This photo taken by satellite imagery provider DigitalGlobe shows a general view of a reported under-construction airstrip at the top end of Fiery Cross Reef in Nansha Islands, also known as Spratly, in the disputed South China Sea, April 2, 2015.

The meeting comes as tensions threaten to come to a head over the South China Sea – an important passage, particularly for trade.

On Sunday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said the military facilities are necessary to protect China and its reefs.

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

He expressed regret that 42 out of the 100 odd islands were “illegally occupied” by neighbouring countries. He insisted that the need to improve the regional stability is needed. However, he appealed to nations claiming land in the area to “halt reclamation, new construction and militarisation” for “the sake of regional stability”. China’s self-claimed freedom has caused some concerns in the Middle East. India, the United States and several other countries, have been calling for “freedom of navigation” in the SCS.

Shi Yinhong, director of the Center of US Studies at Renmin University of China, said, “As Washington has chose to regularly send military ships and planes near Chinese islands, confrontation between China and the US has reached a record high in the South China Sea”.

“In keeping with the (Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China sea) spirit, disputes over territory and jurisdiction rights should be peacefully resolved through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states directly concerned”, Hong said.

Japan’s foreign and defence ministers have been anxious about China’s position in the South China Sea. Any disruption will affect the trade, which uses the route.

Wu commended Admiral Swift’s welcome visit to China as a sign that both sides attach great importance to the development and maintaining of the new type of major-country and military relations between the two sides.

While things have been relatively calm since the 2002 Bali bombings, Mr Key is anxious about the potential for that situation to change, because Indonesia and the wider South-East Asia region is a place many Kiwis travel to.

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?