US o cial urges Asean to resist China

KUALA LUMPUR – A senior US official on Thursday urged Southeast Asian nations meeting this weekend in Bangkok to put up stiffer resistance to China’s militarization of the disputed South China Sea.

At the same time, David Stilwell, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, sought to downplay Chinese concerns over US involvement in the region.

He told a forum in Malaysia that the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific region was not a move to expand US domination but reflected Washington’s “enduring engagement” to make the area prosperous.

China’s smaller neighbors including Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia contest Beijing’s claims of ownership of almost all of the strategically important South China Sea. Beijing has asserted its claim by building seven manmade islands and equipping them with military runways, missile defense systems and outposts.

Stilwell is set to attend the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Bangkok. “This is your turf, this is your place. Vietnam has done a good job of pushing back. I would think that regarding ASEAN centrality... (the grouping) would join Vietnam to resist actions that are destabilizing and affecting security,” he said.

Stilwell acknowledged that the bloc doesn’t want to have to take sides between the two superpowers.

“I ask my ASEAN counterparts what their alternate plan was in this world where we like not to have to choose. I think the US has done a great job in standing up at great political cost to ourselves,” he added.

In Bangkok, Philippine ambassador Mary Jo Bernardo-Aragon said she looks forward to an early conclusion of the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, which ASEAN is pushing to ease tension in the region.

“We see some progress in the talks and there are continuing talks for an early resolution of the COC,” Aragon said in an interview in Bangkok.

The South China Sea territorial row is expected to again be a potential source of friction at the meetings in Bangkok. ASEAN has been unable to forge a strong stance on the issue due to objection from China’s allies such as Cambodia.