Divisions within Asia over China's claims in the disputed South China Sea spilled over Wednesday to a meeting of US and Asian defense ministers, where China insisted the group make no public mention of the strategic waters in a joint declaration intended as a public display of unity. As a result, a joint statement was canceled, although both host Malaysia and US Defense Secretary Ash Carter discounted the significance of the failure, which reflected a split with China and other Asian nations over the South China Sea issue. "I had no expectation there would be agreement," Carter told a news conference, adding that the important point was that the South China Sea was a "persistent topic" of the conference. "Everybody raised it," he said. Carter defended US Navy patrols in the contested waters that China objects to, saying the US has been sailing in the South China Sea for decades. What's new and problematic, he said, is China's land reclamation and militarization of reefs and islets. "What we sign on the joint declaration is not going to resolve the issue of duplicating claims nor is it going to wish vessels that are in the South China Sea away," Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said. He said that "our concerns are more real ... unintended accidents at the high sea, which can spiral into something worse and that we must avoid." He said that the Southeast Asian grouping will continue to engage China and the US to ensure peace and stability in the region. Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said that the dispute over the joint declaration was due to "differences in phrasing and interpretation." But he said "all countries agreed on the freedom of navigation and all countries accepted international laws and norms." — AP
