KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysia called Tuesday for more efforts to find a peaceful solution to rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea, as the United States and the Philippines said they would demand a stop to land reclamation and other aggressive actions by China at an annual diplomatic meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, at the start of a meeting with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said the 10-member regional grouping must play a role to ensure an amicable settlement in the dispute over the resource-rich and busy waterway.
“Above all, we must be seen to address these issues peacefully and cooperatively,” he said. “We have made a positive start but we need to do more.”
China, Taiwan and ASEAN members – the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei – have wrangled over ownership and control of the South China Sea in a conflict that has flared on and off for decades.
Tensions rose last year when China began to build artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, which the U.S. and Beijing’s rival claimant countries fear could impede freedom of navigation and overflights in a major transit area for the world’s oil and merchandise.