(BGF) – China insisted that its activities in the South China Sea were the “inherent right of the country” and that they are all “in accordance with international law and historical evidence”‘, neglected the U.S., Japan and other regional powers’ urges to address conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea based on international law, not with threats or historical claims.

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U.S., Japan press China to respect int’l law over S. China Sea row

July 12,2012 | By Ko Hirano and Varunee Torsricharoen

(Photo Credit: AFP)

Phnom Penh (Kyodo) – The United States, Japan and other regional powers pressed China at a regional security forum on Thursday to address conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea based on international law, not with threats or historical claims.

Foreign ministers of the 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum expressed hope that Beijing and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations will launch negotiations at an early time for a binding “code of conduct,” a set of rules to regulate claimant states’ activities and behavior in the South China Sea, delegates said.

“We believe the nations of the region should work collaboratively and diplomatically to resolve disputes without coercion, without intimidation, without threats and certainly without the use of force,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a news conference after the ARF ended.

“No nation can fail to be concerned by the increase in tensions, the uptick in confrontational rhetoric and disagreements over resource exploitation,” Clinton said.

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