KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Divisions within Asia over China's claims in the disputed South China Sea spilled over Wednesday to a meeting of U.S. and Asian defence ministers, where China insisted the group make no public mention of the strategic waters in a joint declaration intended as a public display of unity.
As a result, a joint statement was cancelled, although both host Malaysia and U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter discounted the significance of the failure, which reflected a split with China and other Asian nations over the South China Sea issue.
"I had no expectation there would be agreement," Carter told a news conference, adding that the important point was that the South China Sea was a "persistent topic" of the conference.
"Everybody raised it," he said.
Carter defended U.S. Navy patrols in the contested waters that China objects to, saying the U.S. has been sailing in the South China Sea for decades. What's new and problematic, he said, is China's land reclamation and militarization of reefs and islets.
"What we sign on the joint declaration is not going to resolve the issue of duplicating claims nor is it going to wish vessels that are in the South China Sea away," Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.
He said that "our concerns are more real ... unintended accidents at the high sea, which can spiral into something worse and that we must avoid." He said that the Southeast Asian grouping will continue to engage China and the U.S. to ensure peace and stability in the region.
Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that the dispute over the joint declaration was due to "differences in phrasing and interpretation." But he said "all countries agreed on the freedom of navigation and all countries accepted international laws and norms."
In a statement issued by the host country, Malaysia said the meeting noted the importance of the early conclusion of the code of conduct in the South China Sea - a set of rules meant to govern behaviour in the disputed waters - "in order to build mutual trust and confidence, and maintain peace, security and stability in the region." China has so far dragged its feet in concluding discussions on the code of conduct.
A senior American official travelling with Carter said that China, which like the United States is not a member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations but was attending the defence ministers' meeting as an invited partner, was adamant that the meeting's final public statement omit any mention of the South China Sea. The Americans argued that it would be better to make no joint statement at all rather than issue one that omitted mention of the contentious South China Sea issue.
Carter plans to go aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday as it transits the South China Sea off the Malaysian coast, the official said. Carter plans to bring his Malaysian counterpart with him, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the plan and so spoke on condition of anonymity.
China's claims in the South China Sea are disputed by several countries in the region, including Malaysia.
