Apóllōn
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Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
BEIJING: China warned Southeast Asian nations on Tuesday against “hyping” a dispute over the South China Sea, as it voiced opposition to the row being discussed at a regional security forum.
As the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations discussed forming a united position on the sensitive issue during a summit in Cambodia, China insisted the dispute should only be resolved directly between rival claimants.
“This South China Sea issue is not an issue between China and ASEAN, but between China and some ASEAN countries,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters. “Hyping the South China Sea issue is against the common aspirations of the people and the main trends of the time to seek development and cooperation, and is an attempt to take China-ASEAN relations hostage.”
China claims essentially all of the South China Sea, home to vital shipping lanes and believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits. Taiwan and ASEAN members the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia also have claims to the waters. China recently angered Vietnam by inviting bids for exploration of oil blocks in contested waters. The Philippines has repeatedly accused China of becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claim to the waters. As tensions with China have risen, the Philippines and Vietnam have sought to shore up ties with the United States. China’s navy on Tuesday started annual military exercises off its east coast, state media reported, amid tensions over maritime territorial disputes with its neighbours. “According to our annual plan for exercises, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s navy will in the coming days hold exercise activities in the waters near the Zhoushan islands,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday. The ministry provided no other details on the war games.