US tries to cool sea tensions at Asia security summit
Monday, 11 August 2014
NAYPYIDAW (Myanmar), Aug 10 (AFP): The United States Sunday pressed its case for a freeze on hostile acts in waters contested by China and its Southeast Asian neighbours, but said it did not want to "confront" Beijing over its strategy in the region.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is pushing for an agreement to end all actions that risk further inflaming regional relations, following several tense encounters in the disputed South China Sea this year.
Washington's top diplomat is touring the region despite a slew of major international crises in other parts of the world as the US looks to reinvigorate alliances in the Asia-Pacific as part of President Barack Obama's "pivot" east.
Speaking in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, after an ASEAN Regional Forum, Kerry said talks with his Southeast Asian counterparts and the Chinese foreign minister were fruitful.
"I think we will see some progress on the South China Sea based on the conversations we have had here," he told reporters as he prepared to leave Naypyidaw late Sunday.
The forum brought together Southeast Asian foreign ministers and key partners, including the US, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the European Union.
A senior US administration official said concern among its Southeast Asian allies about "Chinese behaviour was at an all-time high".
But the official insisted there would not be a "showdown" between the two world superpowers.
"We don't want to confront China. But we have a series of interests and principles that drive our approach in the region where they diverge with China," the official said.
Kerry on Saturday formally put forward Washington's proposal to cool maritime tensions based on claimant states agreeing to step back from actions that could "complicate or escalate disputes".
The US waded in to the South China Sea row following a series of maritime incidents between China and rival claimants, including Beijing's positioning of an oil rig in waters also claimed by Vietnam which sparked deadly riots in the Southeast Asian nation.