By Ben Bland in Hanoi, Geoff Dyer in Beijing and Mure Dickie in Tokyo
Published: October 11 2010 09:02
Last updated: October 11 2010 19:02
Schoolchildren wave flags as a Chinese missile frigate makes a port call in Hong Kong. Some governments are nervous about China’s naval expansion
Disputes in the South China Sea were of international concern, Robert Gates, US defence secretary, said on Monday, highlighting the rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over security in Asia.
Speaking in Hanoi, Mr Gates said Washington had a strong interest in maritime security in Asia, rejecting Beijing’s view that the territorial rows that have flared up in the past two years should be resolved with its neighbours bilaterally.
“We need multilateral institutions in order to confront the most important security challenges in the region,” he said in a speech at Vietnam National University.
But despite their differences, Mr Gates accepted an invitation from Liang Guanglie, the Chinese defence minister, to visit Beijing early next year, resuming a high-level military dialogue suspended by Beijing since the start of the year over US arms sales to Taiwan.
Mr Gates and Mr Liang met ahead of a key regional security summit in the Vietnamese capital on Tuesday.
Regional tensions have been rising over a more aggressive diplomatic posture adopted by Beijing over its claims to the disputed Paracel and Spratly Islands – all or parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. China also recently clashed with Japan over disputed island territories.
Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, angered Beijing in July by insisting that the dispute over the South China Sea was of strategic importance to Washington and offering to act as a mediator. Mr Gates and his Chinese counterpart did not discuss the matter during their meeting, according to Guan Youfei, a Chinese rear admiral and deputy director of the defence ministry’s foreign affairs office.
He said the meeting was “very short but also very candid and constructive” and “an important consensus was reached” on the need to “strengthen dialogue and communication and promote understanding and trust”.
Adm Guan said that the “strange, on-again, off-again cycle” in US-China military relations was largely the result of US arms sales to Taiwan.
He added that “the situation in the South China Sea is stable” and that it ought not to be discussed at the Hanoi summit. Defence ministers and officials from the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will meet their counterparts from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US in Hanoi today – the first regional security meeting to involve such a broad range of high-level participants.
Vital global trade routes pass by the islands, which are believed to sit atop vast reserves of oil and gas and are surrounded by abundant fishing grounds.
At a time when some governments in the region and beyond are expressing concern about China’s ambitious naval build-up, the forum gives the US an opportunity to present itself as a natural counterpoint to a rising China.
In a press conference after their meeting, Mr Gates and Phung Quang Thanh, Vietnam’s defence minister, stressed the need to resolve any disputes through peaceful means and according to international law.
Gen Liang also met on Monday with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimi Kitazawa, a sign of easing tensions between the two countries following the furious reaction in Beijing to the arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain by Japanese coastguard’s off a set of disputed islands in the east China Sea.
“It’s a step forward that the defence ministers of the two nations could meet,” said Mr Kitazawa after his meeting with Mr Liang.
But there was little sign the ministers made any substantive progress on territorial issues and Japan’s Kyodo news agency said Gen Liang refused Mr Kitazawa’s request that he reconsider China’s postponement of a naval training exchange scheduled for this week.
TERRITORIAL DISPUTES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
Paracel Islands
Claimants:
China, Vietnam, Taiwan,
Dispute:
China has occupied the islands since 1974. In the past few years Beijing has stepped up its sea patrols and recently announced plans to promote tourism in the Paracels – prompting protests from Vietnam, which has tried to internationalise the dispute. Last week Vietnam demanded China release fishermen it has detained near the islands
Spratly Islands.
Claimants:
China, Vietnam and Taiwan (Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines also claim parts of them)
Dispute:
The mainly uninhabited Spratly islands are believed to sit atop large oil and gas deposits. In 2002 the Association of South East Asian Nations and China agreed to avoid activities that would “complicate or escalate” the dispute over the islands. China opposes US involvement in talks while other countries favour a multilateral approach.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010.
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