US proposes halt to provocative South China Sea activities

Tensions over the South China Sea have dominated talks this week in the Malaysian capital, where Asean foreign ministers have also met their counterparts from various countries, including China and the United States.

Meanwhile, US State Secretary John Kerry extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.

Minh highlighted the significance of resolving any disputes by peaceful means and in line with global law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and joining together to sustain a marine environment of peace and stability.

Diplomatic sources told AFP that the Philippines and Vietnam in particular were pushing for stronger language on Chinese land reclamation, which could help shore up Beijing’s disputed territorial claims. Some images have shown alleged attempts by China to build military facilities on these reclaimed islands.

The G-7 and m Association of Southeast Asian Nations have called on China to stop the reclamation and other activities that would create tensions in the region. “These are intrinsic rights that we all share”, he said according to a transcript of his remarks.

US secretary of state John Kerry said on Thursday the United States would not accept restrictions on freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.

China does not want Washington to interfere in the territorial disputes and has taken a stance of aiming to settle such rows bilaterally with claimants.

Kerry said that halting “problematic actions” in the region would provide an opportunity for diplomacy.

Japan and the Philippines teamed up at a regional security forum this week to attack China over the disputed South China Sea, China’s Foreign Ministry said, detailing the feisty defence its foreign minister mounted in return.

“The US shares the frequently expressed desire of Asean members to preserve the peace and stability in the South China Sea“, Kerry told the Asean ministers. It is also intended to convey China’s support for the formulation of a Code of Conduct to guide the activities of in the strategic trade zone.

“Once the French team confirms it, there will be further analysis of currents, drifts, winds and the like, but it is most certainly consistent with the search area that is under focus”, she told reporters after attending the 16th Asean Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting yesterday.

The communique, in an item directed at North Korea, called on concerned parties to refrain from “repeated ballistic missile launches” and for Pyongyang to work with China, the U.S., Japan, Russian Federation and South Korea to resume the long-stalled six-party talks aimed at the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

China hopes to promote cooperation with ASEAN in addressing disputes in the East Sea, including marine risk management, he said.

China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines have conflicting claims in the area.

Tensions rose last year when China began building artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, which the U.S. and Beijing’s rival claimant countries fear could impede freedom of navigation and overflights in a major transit area for the world’s oil and merchandise. Both nations have voiced concerns about the militarization of the region as a result of the dispute. Once phase 2 of its project is complete, these artificial islands will greatly enhance China’s capabilities to enforce its enormous claims.