Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said on Monday that the disputed South China Sea should not be discussed at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Liu also said that the countries outside ASEAN should not interfere in sensitive issues.
Last week, China had accused US of ‘militarising’ the South China Sea by staging patrols and joint military drills.
It should not be discussed. This is not the right forum. This is a forum for promoting cooperation. If the U.S. raises the issue we shall of course object. We hope they will not.
– Liu Zhenmin, Vice Foreign Minister, Chinese
But in Washington, State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said tensions in the South China Sea would be discussed as part of regional security concerns.
This is a forum in which critical security issues need to be brought up and discussed, and frankly, ... we believe that the developments in the South China Sea meet that criteria.
– Mark Toner, Spokesperson, State Department Deputy
Neither the United States nor China are members of ASEAN but have been invited to participate alongside other countries outside the group.
The United States is expected to repeat a call for Beijing to halt land reclamation on islands in disputed waters.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will be in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and Thursday.
A draft of the joint statement to be issued at the end of the ASEAN meeting, seen by Reuters, said leaders were concerned with recent developments “which have the potential to undermine peace, security and stability in the South China Sea.”
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year, and rejects the rival claims of Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Freeze Proposal Unrealistic
Speaking to reporters in Singapore, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed a proposal to freeze provocative activities in South China Sea.
What’s the standard for freezing? Who is to judge the process of the freezing activity? These are very complex questions. So the freeze proposal may seem even-handed, but it’s actually unrealistic and will not work in practice.
– Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister
With the disputed area becoming Asia’s biggest potential military flashpoint, China and Southeast Asian nations have agreed to set up a foreign ministers’ hotline to tackle emergencies in the South China Sea, a senior official of the ASEAN grouping said on Friday.
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