China irate over push on sea claim

THE US and Australia are expected to back a renewed push today by concerned East Asian nations for a firm Chinese commitment to negotiate its expansive and troublesome territorial claim over the South China Sea.

China has signalled it will push back at the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting, with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi telling Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the US should not interfere in matters of Chinese sovereignty.

"The Chinese side raised its own concerns, which is that it is important to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China," delegation spokesman Liu Weiming said after the China-US bilateral meeting yesterday.

It is understood Mrs Clinton and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd discussed the handling of South China Sea issues during their bilateral meeting later in the day.

They agreed on the importance of freedom of navigation in international waters and the resolution of territorial disputes in accordance with international law.

Those are the principal concerns in the Asia-Pacific neighbourhood surrounding Beijing's aggressive assertion of its claims to sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea.

And, despite the long-delayed agreement between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week on guidelines for negotiating a code of conduct covering rival South China Sea claimants, most Southeast Asian nations remain unhappy Beijing still has not agreed to negotiate its claims multilaterally.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have competing claims to parts of the sea and since 2009 Chinese maritime forces have tangled with Vietnamese, US and Philippines vessels in disputed areas.

The Philippines is expected to push the issue at today's meeting of the ARF, East Asia's primary security forum.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, this year's ASEAN chairman, has voiced dissatisfaction over delays in setting up a disputes process since 2002.

Mr Rudd pointed out yesterday a peaceful South China Sea was "of relevance to all of us given that it sees a huge proportion of the world's trade traverse its waters".