AFP, Kuala Lumpur :
Southeast Asian diplomats called on China Tuesday to address concerns over its controversial island-building drive during regional security talks in Kuala Lumpur, after Beijing said the flashpoint issue was not up for discussion. The US and some Southeast Asian states have watched with growing alarm as Beijing expands tiny reefs in the South China Sea, topping some with military posts to reinforce its disputed claims over the strategic waters and fanning fears of future conflict. Ahead of the gathering hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that began Tuesday in Malaysia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi signalled no compromise. “China has never believed that multilateral fora are the appropriate place for discussing specific bilateral disputes,” Wang told reporters in Singapore on Monday. Doing so will “heighten confrontation”, he said, adding that China would not bow to pressure to stop its land reclamation. However US and Southeast Asian officials insist the dispute will be raised. “ASEAN can and should play a vital part in effecting an amicable settlement” on the South China Sea, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman told a meeting of foreign ministers from the 10-member Southeast Asian bloc. “Above all we must be seen to address this issue peacefully and cooperatively. We have made a positive start but we need to do more.” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario of the Philippines, which has been involved in the most direct territorial confrontations with China, called for a “halt in reclamation, halt in construction, and halt in aggressive actions that could further heighten tensions”. He said in a statement, however, that any such halt should not be seen “in any way (to) legitimise” Chinese land reclamation so far completed. Beijing claims control over nearly all of the South China Sea, a key shipping route thought to hold rich oil and gas reserves. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei — all ASEAN members — also have various claims, as does Taiwan, many of which overlap. Malaysia on Tuesday called for more efforts to find a peaceful solution to rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea, as the U.S. and the Philippines said they would demand that China stop land reclamation and other actions there. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi defended Beijing’s moves, saying they were in Chinese territory and that there should be no double standards on the issue, in reference to land reclamation work by other claimants. He urged all parties to support China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in speeding up negotiations for a code of conduct that governs behavior in the resource-rich and busy waterway. “It’s not a constructive move to exercise double standards on the issue,” Wang told reporters. “China and ASEAN are capable enough to work together to maintain the peace and stability in the South China Sea.” China, Taiwan and several ASEAN members – the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei – have wrangled over ownership and control of the South China Sea in a conflict that has flared on and off for decades.
