US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter called for a diplomatic settlement of rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying China and its neighbors should agree on a long-delayed code of conduct for the waters before year’s end.
“There is no military solution to the South China Sea disputes,” Carter told a conference of regional defense ministers and military chiefs on Saturday in Singapore. “Right now, at this critical juncture, is the time for renewed diplomacy, focused on finding a lasting solution that protects the rights and interests of all.”
China and some Asian nations have used dredging to expand reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, an area that carries some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. In the Spratly Islands, a collection of several hundred reefs, atolls and islands, Vietnam has 48 outposts; the Philippines, eight; Malaysia, five; and Taiwan, one.
But Carter singled out China as a source of instability, saying its reclamation dwarfs what others have done. As China’s economic success translates into greater military power it has created 2,000 acres of new land over the past 18 months, in some cases hundreds of miles from its mainland, according to Pentagon estimates.
Carter was speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. At last year’s forum, Chinese and US officials traded sharp words over the South China Sea, sparked by a speech by then-defense secretary Chuck Hagel.
MANILA BULLETIN
