US secretary of state John Kerry has accused China of not allowing freedom of navigation and overflight in the disputed South China Sea, despite giving assurances that such freedoms would not be impeded.
Addressing a regional meeting in Kuala Lumpur that has been
dominated by the South China Sea issue, Mr Kerry said China's construction of
facilities for "military purposes" on man-made islands was raising
tensions and risked "militarisation" by other claimant states.
"Freedom of navigation and overflight are among the
essential pillars of international maritime law," Mr Kerry told the East
Asia Summit attended by foreign ministers from South-East Asia, China, Japan
and other nations, including Australia.
"Despite assurances that these freedoms would be respected,
we have seen warnings issued and restrictions attempted in recent months.
"Let me be clear: The United States will not accept
restrictions on freedom of navigation and overflight, or other lawful uses of
the sea."
China has warned Philippine military aircraft away from the
artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea,
Philippine military officials said.
The Chinese navy also issued eight warnings to the crew of a US
P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft when it conducted overflights in the area
in May, according to CNN, which had a reporter on board the US aircraft.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $US5
trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims.
The ASEAN group of South-East Asian nations said some members
had "serious concerns" about land reclamation in the South China Sea,
according to a draft of the final communique seen by Reuters.
The final communique will be issued at the end of their separate
talks in Kuala Lumpur this week.
Member states had wrangled hard before finally agreeing on the
wording of the communique.
The communique is expected to say that South China Sea matters
were extensively discussed.
It will also say that China and ASEAN countries would proceed to
the "next stage" of consultations on a code of conduct that isded to bind them to detailed rules of behaviour at sea.
On Wednesday, Chinese
foreign minister Wang Yi said Beijing
had halted land reclamation in the South China Sea and that ASEAN and China shared a desire
to resolve the thorny issue through dialogue.
Earlier in June, China said it would soon complete some of its
reclamation in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, while adding it
would continue to build facilities on the man-made islands.
Mr Kerry said he hoped China had stopped island building, but
that what was needed was an end to "militarisation".
He added that Wang's commitment to resolving the South China Sea
issue had not been as "fulsome" as some had hoped.
"In my meeting with ... Wang Yi, he indicated I think a
different readiness of China to try to resolve some of this, though I think it
was still not as fulsome as many of us would like to see," Mr Kerry told
reporters.
"But it's a beginning, and it may open up some opportunity
for conversation on this in months ahead. We'll have to wait and see."
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