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China under fresh fire over sea rows as US courts SE Asia
By Andrew BEATTY
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Nov 22, 2015


Japan backs US South China Sea operations
Sydney (AFP) Nov 22, 2015 - Japan on Sunday backed the United States sailing warships close to disputed land in the South China Sea but said it had no plans to send its own maritime forces to support the operation.

Last month Washington infuriated Beijing when the USS Lassen guided missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of at least one land formation claimed by China in the disputed Spratly Islands chain.

Chinese authorities monitored and warned away the vessel, but did not otherwise intervene, although Beijing later summoned the US ambassador and denounced what it called a threat to its sovereignty.

Reports last week said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Manila he would consider sending his country's ships to back up American operations in the area.

But Defence Minister Gen Nakatani played down the suggestion after bilateral meetings with Australian counterpart Marise Payne and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Sydney.

"We have actively been trying to contribute to stability in the region but as far as we are concerned there is no plan to be a part of the freedom of navigation operation of the United States," he said.

"At the US-Japan summit (in Manila), I believe Prime Minister Abe conveyed this stance to President Obama."

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida appeared less decisive, saying "nothing has been decided yet, no decision has been taken".

"The international community must work in concert to respond to the situation," he said, speaking immediately before Nakatani.

"For the US, conducting operations to ensure the freedom of navigation, this is strictly based on international law ... and Japan is supporting the US in this regard."

Tensions have mounted since China transformed reefs in the South China Sea into small islands capable of supporting military facilities, a move the US says threatens freedom of navigation in a region through which one-third of the world's oil passes.

China insists on sovereignty over virtually all the resource-endowed South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by a handful of other countries.

Washington has repeatedly said it does not recognise the Chinese claims.

In a communique after the talks in Sydney, Japan and Australia called on "all claimants to halt large-scale land reclamation, construction, and use for military purposes" in the South China Sea.

They also "urged claimants to exercise restraint, take steps to ease tensions and refrain from provocative actions that could escalate tensions".

Two-thirds of Australian trade passes through the South China Sea and Bishop said freedom of navigation in the area was imperative.

"We have a very deep national interest in maintaining peace and stability in that region," she said.

"We don't take sides on the competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, but we have acknowledged that land reclamation and construction activity that's undertaken by China and other claimants raises tensions in the region.

"We're particularly concerned at the prospect of militarisation of artificial islands and structures."

China came under renewed criticism Sunday over its rising profile in the South China Sea as it jostled with the United States for regional influence at the conclusion to a week of top-level diplomacy.

Asia-Pacific leaders met in Malaysia with China finding itself in the firing line over its land reclamation projects that have turned tiny atolls into fully-fledged islands with potential military uses.

"The world is watching," to see if Beijing will behave like a "responsible global leader" in the standoff, Philippine President Benigno Aquino told the assembled leaders.

The talks -- which included the United States, China, Japan and others -- were hosted by the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

President Barack Obama, who earlier in the week repeated US calls for China to stop the land reclamation, announced Sunday he would host the ASEAN leaders at a meeting in the United States next year.

"This region ... is critical to security, prosperity and human dignity around the world," he said, while also pledging continued trade, diplomatic, and security support for the region.

The annual season of summitry, which began a week ago in Turkey for the Group of 20 meeting, and continued with regional forums in Manila and Kuala Lumpur, has been overshadowed by the string of recent deadly extremist attacks.

But attention in Malaysia shifted back to Chinese actions, which have raised fears of potential conflict at sea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waded into the fray, calling for the South China Sea, a key route for global seaborne trade, not to be militarised, while refraining from directly naming China, according to Kyodo news agency.

- 'Political provocation' -

China insists on sovereignty over virtually all the resource-endowed South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and non-ASEAN member Taiwan.

Beijing has displayed irritation with Washington's expressions of support for the claims of China's neighbours, and once again refused to budge on the issue in Kuala Lumpur.

With Obama present, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told Sunday's closed-door summit that countries "from outside the region" should stop inflaming tensions over the maritime dispute, a Chinese official said afterward.

The official, Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, also criticised the recent US deployment of naval vessels to the South China Sea.

Washington has said the move was meant to stress the right to free passage in waters China claims, but Liu called it a "political provocation."

At the same time, China offered its own carrot to ASEAN, announcing a new raft of infrastructure loans totalling some $10 billion.

ASEAN on Saturday issued a joint statement stressing the need to maintain freedom of navigation and over-flight rights in the South China Sea.

Washington says navigation in a sea through which much of the world's trade passes could be threatened by actions such as China's island-building.

ASEAN also called for quicker progress on agreeing a code of conduct at sea with Beijing.

China has been accused of dragging its feet on the code -- which could hamper its freedom of action at sea -- and seeking to run out the game clock while it works to turn its disputed territorial claims into a fait accompli.

Obama also stressed US support for the code, and said on Saturday that "for the sake of regional stability, claimants should halt reclamation, new construction, and militarisation of disputed areas."

- ASEAN draws closer -

Earlier Sunday, the heads of ASEAN signed an agreement to formally establish the region as an EU-style common market.

Actually realising the vision of the "ASEAN Economic Community" remains a distant goal due to significant non-tariff and other barriers, and large development gaps across the diverse region.

Diplomats have admitted Sunday's declaration has no practical effect and was largely meant to avoid having ASEAN -- regularly criticised for its lack of concrete achievements -- miss its own deadline of 2015 for the AEC.

But the move takes the region a small step closer to a hoped-for single Southeast Asian market with free flow of goods, capital and skilled labour across borders.

Philippine leader says 'world is watching' China in sea row
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Nov 22, 2015 - Philippine President Benigno Aquino told an Asia-Pacific summit on Sunday that "the world is watching" whether China would behave as a responsible power in the simmering standoff over maritime territory.

Aquino kept up a drumbeat of growing criticism of China's expansion of tiny atolls into fully-fledged islands, as leaders including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met in Malaysia.

The issue has increasingly loomed over the regional diplomatic and security outlook, with China accused of upsetting the status quo by moving to enhance its presence in the South China Sea.

"We are hopeful that China would honour its word and respect the rule of law," Aquino said, according to a copy of his address to the 18-country East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Aquino's comment referred specifically to a dispute with China over maritime territory, which Manila is bringing before an international court.

"The world is watching and expects no less from a responsible global leader," Aquino said.

Beijing has vowed not to take part in the case, saying the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague has no jurisdiction over a matter concerning Chinese sovereignty.

Heads of government from 18 countries including the United States, China, India, Russia, Japan and nations in Southeast Asia are meeting for the annual East Asia summit, this year hosted by Malaysia.

A Philippine diplomat confirmed Aquino made the comments in the closed-door meeting.

The Kuala Lumpur diplomatic and political meetings follow a trade-related forum in Manila earlier in the week that included many of the same leaders.

The maritime issue has become the stage for a big-power confrontation between China and the United States, which warns that Beijing's actions could threaten freedom of navigation.

US President Barack Obama, who also attended both summits this week, has called on China to halt its land reclamation.

China has declared ownership of virtually all of the South China Sea, conflicting with the various claims of Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei.

The Philippines has been the most vocal in challenging China.

Aquino said Beijing's island reclamation was "in total disregard of international law" and its assertiveness had "come to a point wherein we are now no longer allowed to enter areas within our Exclusive Economic Zone".

Manila insists the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the Philippines and China have both ratified, should be used to settle the bitter row.

"The great equaliser is the rule of law. Under the rule of law, right prevails over might," he told his fellow leaders.


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