Pentagon chief visiting aircraft carrier in South China Sea

“Our understanding is there will be no joint declaration”, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The dispute overshadowed Wednesday’s meeting in Kuala Lumpur of ASEAN defense ministers, plus Carter and his counterparts from China, Australia, India and Japan. It was scrapped after China objected to mentioning the sea dispute.

“The threat is what’s not in a piece of paper”.

“If the United States continues to press China on this, as it says it intends to do, an eventual military clash is a strong possibility”, Freeman said. “To dwell on the joint declaration is not going to solve the real problems”. He reaffirmed Japan’s support for the USA operation after a November 3 meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Stability in the Asia-Pacific region is important to the United States economically, Carter said, noting that half of the world’s commerce comes from or passes through that part of the world. Secretary Carter was there. “But we do take the side of peaceful resolution under worldwide law”.

“We urge all claimants to permanently halt land reclamation, stop the construction of new facilities and cease further militarization of disputed maritime features”, Carter said.

But China said “certain other countries” had interfered.

South Korea and China didn’t discuss the South China Sea disputes at talks between defense ministers of the two nations following the general session. His visit coincides with that of Chinese President Xi Jinping to one of the countries in the web of overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Asean defence ministers cancelled the signing of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration of the third ADMM-Plus today as they and eight partner countries failed to reach a consensus at the end of Asean Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM)-Plus meeting here.

Last week, the U.S. sent the guided missile destroyer USS ship to within the 12-nautical-mile limit of an artificial island built by China in the South China Sea.

“China has consistently respected and safeguarded all countries’ freedom of navigation and overflight enjoyed under worldwide law”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday when asked about the Carter carrier visit before it took place, Reuters reported.

Officials said this was the first time the dialogue would fail to issue a joint statement by the defence chiefs. “It reflects the divide China’s reclamation and militarization … has caused”.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.