China Wants Sea Spat Off Asean Agenda as Clinton Urges Talks

[Apóllōn]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-10/china-wants-sea-dispute-off-asean-agenda-as-clinton-urges-talks

China warned nations to avoid mentioning territorial disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam at a security meeting this week, rebuffing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s call for talks on the issue.

Clinton indicated yesterday the U.S. would raise concerns over the South China Sea during meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where envoys from 26 Asia-Pacific countries and the European Union meet tomorrow. Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi with Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Clinton called competing claims in the waters a “critical issue.”

While the U.S. remains concerned about the South China Sea, Clinton’s comments appear to be softer than in previous years, according to Gary Li, head of marine and aviation forecasting at Exclusive Analysis Ltd., a London-based business advisory firm.

The U.S. is “not as forwardly anti-China as last time round,” he wrote in an e-mail. That combined with “the lack of any bilateral mechanisms in the code of conduct will mean there will be little change in China’s posture on the South China Sea.”