By Prashanth Parameswaran
Beijing allegedly didn’t want its island-building included in official statement.
A meeting of Asian defense ministers has failed to issue a joint declaration as scheduled for the first time after China lobbied to block mention of its assertiveness in the South China Sea, media outlets reported citing a U.S. defense official.
“Our understanding is there will be no joint declaration,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity according to Channel NewsAsia, a Singapore-based media outlet. He was referring to the joint communique usually issued at the biannual ASEAN Defense Ministers Plus (ADMM-Plus) meeting, which saw its third iteration held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week.
The ADMM-Plus groups the 10 countries of Southeast Asia and eight other countries – Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. Malaysia is hosting the meeting this year as the holder of the rotating ASEAN chair.
According to the U.S. official, China opposed mention of its construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea in the joint statement, but “a number of ASEAN countries felt that (it) was inappropriate” to exclude any mention of it in the official statement.
“In our view, no statement is better than one that avoids the important issue of China’s land reclamation and militarization in the South China Sea,” the official said.
Read the full story at The Diplomat