|
 "For the sake of regional stability the claimants should halt
reclamation, construction and militarisation of disputed areas,"
Obama told a meeting between the United States and leaders of the 10
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
China insists it has undisputed sovereignty over most of the South
China Sea, a claim that overlaps with four ASEAN countries.
China has been transforming reefs in the Spratly archipelago into
artificial islands and has built airfields and other facililties on
them. This has caused ripples of alarm in much of East Asia about
China's intentions and freedom of navigation in a waterway through
which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually.
Obama said he commended ASEAN for working to create a code of
conduct for the South China Sea "including the peaceful resolution
of disputes, freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight."
 Earlier this month, U.S. B-52 bombers flew near China's artificial
islands, signaling Washington's determination to challenge Beijing
over the disputed sea.
China has said it does not want the South China Sea issue to be the
focus of the meetings in Kuala Lumpur. Prime Minister Li Keqiang has
yet to comment on the issue.
CONFRONT ISLAMIST EXTREMISTS
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak opened the weekend series of
meetings earlier on Saturday, calling on world leaders to confront
Islamist extremism. The "barbaric acts" of "terrorists" do not
represent any race or religion, he declared.
Islamist militants killed 19 people in an attack on a hotel in Mali
on Friday before Malian commandos stormed the building and rescued
170 people, many of them foreigners. This came a week after Islamic
State militants killed 129 people in coordinated attacks in Paris.
"The perpetrators of these cowardly and barbaric acts do not
represent any race, religion or creed, nor should we allow them to
claim to do so," Najib said in his opening speech at the ASEAN
summit.
"They are terrorists and should be confronted as such, with the full
force of the law."
Malaysia has deployed extraordinary security measures around Kuala
Lumpur as leaders from 18 countries, including Obama, arrived for
the series of summits.
Obama said on Saturday the Mali hotel attacks only stiffened the
resolve of the United States and its allies, which would be
relentless in fighting those targeting its citizens and would allow
militants no safe haven.
"We will continue to root out terrorist networks," Obama told a
meeting of business executives. "We will not allow these killers to
have a safe haven."
[to top of second column] |
ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
Most of the leaders arrived from the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila. Both the APEC meeting and the
ASEAN summit typically focus on economic issues but have been
overshadowed by the terrorist attacks.
Najib said he had intended to open the summit to talk about an
economic community that ASEAN is launching this weekend in a region
of 622 million people with a combined economic output of $2.5
trillion.
"But the events of recent days and weeks have cast a shadow over us
all," he said.
He said predominantly Islamic countries such as Malaysia have a duty
to expose as lies the "ideology propagated by these extremists that
is the cause of this sadistic violence."
Obama said ASEAN's community would not only help integrate economies
in the strategic region but "improve regional stability".
Obama said his signature free trade agreement, known as the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), "will bind the United States even
closer to some of our strongest allies in Asia".
"Our alliances are the foundation for our security which becomes the
foundation for our prosperity, which allows us to invest in the
source of our strength, including our alliances," he told the ASEAN
business executives.
The Asia-Pacific countries in the TPP include Japan, Singapore,
Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, New Zealand and
Australia, all of whom are attending the Malaysia meetings.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Martin Petty. Additional reporting
by Trinna Leong and Praveen Menon. Editing by Bill Tarrant.)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
