Beijing: China’s President XI Jinping told the leaders of the 10-state association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) at a summit on Monday that Beijing would not “bully” his smaller neighbor, in the midst of increasing tensions in the South China Sea .
Beijing territorial claims for marine clashes with several Southeast Asian countries and have caused alarm from Washington to Tokyo.
But XI said China would never seek hegemony or utilize its size to force small countries, and will work with ASEAN to eliminate “interference”.
“China, is, and will always be a good neighbor, good friend, and good partners from ASEAN,” said Chinese media by saying.
Southern China’s sovereignty statement over the South China Sea has opposed ASEAN members of Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also claimed spare parts.
The Philippines on Thursday condemned the action of three Chinese coast guard ships which were said by cannon water clogged and used on supply ships to the atoll occupied by the Philippines at sea.
The United States on Friday is called Chinese actions “dangerous, provocative, and cannot be justified,” and warned that armed attacks on the Philippine ship would be requested by our shared defense commitment.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told the Summit held by XI that he “hated” the fight and said that the supremacy of the law was the only way out of the dispute.
He refers to the verdict of the 2016 international arbitration that found Chinese maritime claims against the sea did not have a legal basis.
“This does not speak either about the relationship between our countries,” said Duterte, who will leave office next year and has been criticized in the past for failing to condemn China’s behavior in disputed waters.
ASEAN Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Myanmar No Showxi told the Summit that China and ASEAN have “removed the gloom of cold war” – when the area was tranquished with competition and superpower conflict such as Vietnam war – and jointly maintained the stability of the region.
China often criticizes the United States for “cold war thinking” when Washington involves its regional ally to push back to the influence of the Beijing military and economy.
US President Joe Biden joined ASEAN leaders for virtual summit in October and promised greater involvement with the region.
The Summit was held without a representative from Myanmar, Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said on Monday.
The reason for non-presence was not immediately clear, and Myanmar’s military government spokesman did not answer the call looking for comments.
ASEAN Sidelined Myanmar Junta Leader Min Aung Hlaing, which has caused bloody crackdown in differences of opinion because it seized power on February 1, from the virtual peak last month for his failure to make a breakthrough in implementing agreed peace plans, in an unprecedented exception for blocks .
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Myanmar refused to send a junior representative and blamed ASEAN to depart from non-interference principles and relent to Western pressure.
China lobbied for minutes to attend the Summit, according to diplomatic sources.