Page 11 - ATD 17OCT,2015

WORLD NEWS A11
Saturday 17 October 2015

China hosts ASEAN meeting amid South China Sea tensions

Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks at the welcome ban- image,” said regional se- (21-kilometer) territorial limit to benefit the public good.
quet of the 6th Xiangshan Forum at which analysts, military curity expert Li Mingjiang surrounding China’s man- China has also sparred with
leaders and others from around the globe will discuss Asian- of Singapore’s Nanyang made islands, reported the Vietnam, another ASEAN
Pacific security, maritime issues and anti-terrorism in Beijing, Fri- Technological University. Navy Times, which is closely member, over ownership
day, Oct. 16, 2015. “Because the meeting affiliated with the U.S. Navy. of the Paracel island group,
is in Beijing, it would be ASEAN member the Philip- leading to a confronta-
C. BODEEN to create a good security hard for any country to pines on Wednesday gave tion last year when Beijing
Associated Press environment,” Chang said. confront China over the strong backing for such a moved a massive oil drill-
BEIJING (AP) — China host- Reporters were barred South ChinaSea,” Li said. move. ing platform into contested
ed Southeast Asian de- from the rest of the gath- “There’s also a lack of soli- Sailing within the boundary waters.
fense ministers on Friday in ering and it wasn’t imme- darity among ASEAN coun- would mark the first time On Thursday, Vietnam ac-
an effort to burnish its repu- diately clear what issues tries over the issue.” the U.S. has directly chal- cused China of sinking one
tation in a region wary of its were raised. Since 2013, China has ac- lenged China’s territorial of its fishing boats near the
territorial ambitions, while The informal meeting will celerated its construction claims since 2012 and rein- disputed islands. The inci-
expectations grow that be followed by the Xiang- of new islands atop reefs force Washington’s asser- dent was apparently moti-
the U.S. might directly chal- shan Forum this weekend, and atolls in the South Chi- tion that land reclamation vated by a desire to steal
lenge Chinese claims in the at which analysts, military na Sea and is adding build- does not add sovereign the ship’s catch of fish and
South China Sea. leaders and others from ings and airstrips in appar- territory. put it out of commission.
The meeting in Beijing was around the globe will dis- ent attempts to boost its The U.S. and its allies, includ- There was no evidence
the first time China has cuss Asian-Pacific security, sovereignty claims. ing the Philippines, say the that any Chinese govern-
hosted such a gathering. maritime issues and anti- Unidentified Pentagon offi- newly made islands threat- ment ships were involved,
Four of the countries from terrorism. cials said last week that the en stability in an increas- although Beijing’s aggres-
the 10-member Association In a speech at a welcom- U.S. Navy may soon receive ingly militarized region. Chi- sive actions are believed to
of Southeast Asian Nations ing dinner Friday night, re- approval to sail a ship in- na denies that claim, say- embolden Chinese fisher-
taking part have claims tired top admiral Sun Jian- side the 12-nautical mile ing they’re mainly intended men in the area.q
to seas and islands in the guo told participants the
South ChinaSea that clash forum would “contribute
with Beijing’s own. more insights and ideas
The meeting was expected into regional peace and
to skirt such contentious stability.”
issues as China seeks to He was followed by Cam-
leverage such forums to bodian President Hun Sen,
soften its image. Chinese who praised China’s re-
Defense Minister Chang gional leadership and said
Wanquan did not directly ASEAN was not suited to
mention the dispute in his negotiate with Beijing on
opening remarks, pointing South China Sea issues, re-
instead to the threats that flecting China’s preferred
terrorism, radicalism, natu- approach of negotiating
ral disasters and major ac- with each disputant indi-
cidents pose to the region. vidually.
“China desires cooperation “China wants to use these
and dialogue with ASEAN sorts of forums to pro-
defense bodies to together mote China’s views, ex-
safeguard regional peace plain China’s policies and
and stability and join hands improveChina’s security