Beijing faces pressure over its island building in the South China Sea during high-level Asian security meetings this week that are to include top US and Chinese diplomats.
China is expanding tiny reefs into islands and topping some with military posts to reinforce its disputed claims over the strategic sea, fanning fears of a regional arms race and possible conflict.
Southeast Asia’s human-trafficking problem and concerns over North Korean missile launches are also expected to be among the issues discussed at the talks in Kuala Lumpur.
However, a senior US Department of State official said the sea row is likely to be at the “center” of the three days of foreign minister meetings starting today, an annual security dialogue hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“The ASEAN, like us, are concerned about the scale, the scope, the pace and the implications of China’s reclamation work,” the US official said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) are to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum, along with foreign ministers from Southeast Asia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and other nations.
Alongside Taiwan, ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all have various claims to the South China Sea.
However, Beijing claims nearly all of it, and its neighbors complain that the land reclamation violates a regional pledge to avoid provocative actions.
The dialogue is an opportunity for ASEAN and others “to express directly to the Chinese” their concerns, the US official said.
ASEAN has grown increasingly impatient, but Beijing adamantly rejects criticism, claiming “indisputable” sovereignty over nearly all of the waterway, believed to hold important oil and gas reserves.
Washington has warned the tensions could impede freedom of navigation in what is a major route for international trade.
Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anifah Aman on Friday last week said that there had recently been “important progress” in talks between ASEAN and China toward a “Code of Conduct” (COC) at sea, a set of rules meant to avoid conflict.
However, Aman’s statement seemingly contradicts recent comments made by the Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario, who last month told a court in The Hague that Beijing had spent years preventing a potential COC deal from being ironed out.
“China’s intransigence in the 13 years of subsequent multilateral negotiations has made that goal nearly unattainable,” Del Rosario told the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Analysts concur, saying Beijing has long worked to frustrate progress while building up its presence.
“China’s leaders will not sign, or if they sign, they will not abide by an enforceable COC, whose implementation would seriously constrain their freedom to do as they please,” Donald Emmerson, a Southeast Asia expert at Stanford University, wrote.
The “time has come to abandon ASEAN’s entrenched mirage” of a meaningful COC, he said.
Kerry is expected to push hosts Malaysia to step up efforts to fight human trafficking after Washington last week controversially lifted the nation out of the lowest tier in its annual report card on the scourge.
Southeast Asia was seized earlier this year by a refugee crisis after a Thai crackdown on people smuggling left thousands of migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar stranded at sea. Along with Thailand, Malaysia was found to have brutal trafficking camps on its soil.
Southeast Asian nations blamed Myanmar over the persecution of its Rohingya minority, which drives many into trafficking rings.
It was not clear whether ASEAN member Myanmar would face significant pressure in Kuala Lumpur over the issue.
Kerry is also due to meet with his Turkish counterpart as both sides grapple with the threat posed by the Islamic State group, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
There is also a possibility top North Korean and South Korean diplomats could hold a brief and rare meeting.
Perennial tensions between the two nations remain high, with nuclear-capable Pyongyang believed to be preparing a test of a long-range rocket.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS