China 'offers joint drills with Asean in South China Sea to check US plan to send warships near Spratly Islands
Beijing extends olive branch to Southeast Asian nations in proposal signalling shift in its approach to growing regional concerns over its island reclamations
Beijing is willing to hold joint drills with Southeast Asian countries in the disputed South China Sea, the defence minister said on Friday in what analysts saw as a response to Washington's plan to sail its warships around the Spratly Islands, which China claims as territory.
Striking a conciliatory tone over an increasingly tense spat in the oil-rich region, Defence Minister Chang Wanquan told his counterparts from the Association of South East Asian Nations at an informal summit in Beijing that there was a need for all to push for the "correct" development of ties.
READ MORE: China 'will not allow US to violate its territorial waters in the South China Sea'
In a statement on the Defence Ministry's microblog, Chang was cited as saying that all sides should manage and control the risks from their disputes.
Beijing was willing to hold joint military exercises in the South China Sea with the Asean nations next year, covering accidental encounters, search and rescue as well as disaster relief, the statement said.
Analysts say the proposal signals a shift in Beijing's approach to growing regional concerns over its island reclamations.
Beijing has so far responded angrily to the United States' plan to send its naval vessels in the coming days into the 12-nautical-mile zone around China's newly built artificial islands in the Spratlys, vowing to deliver a "head-on blow" to any foreign force that "violates" its sovereignty.
But its joint-drills proposal would prove to Washington that Beijing could work peacefully with the Southeast Asian countries, said defence expert Ni Lexiong . "The message is, if we are a threat as described by the US, why would other countries be willing to conduct peaceful exercises with us?"
China's relations with several Southeast Asian nations, especially the Philippines and Vietnam, have been strained in recent years over its increasingly assertive tone in pushing territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. The country's island building in the region has further escalated the tensions.
The Defence Ministry's statement on its microblog did not give further details on the proposed joint exercises. It is not clear if they will be held bilaterally with each of the 10 members of the Asean, or as a group.
If Beijing opted for a multilateral drill, it would be a departure from its long-held position that the Asean should not get involved in resolving the South China Sea disputes, said China security specialist Zhang Baohui, of Hong Kong's Lingnan University.
"The island reclamations have unified the Asean countries, which is not a favourable situation for China," he said.
If Beijing offered to hold the drills with the grouping, Zhang said, "this shows China has realised how concerned the Asean countries are" over the dispute.
The analyst said Beijing likely hoped that the olive branch it was holding out could persuade the Southeast Asian nations not to support Washington's planned move in the South China Sea.
"China used to not really care about [the Asean], but now it is starting to worry," he said.
Beijing has in recent years conducted several bilateral drills with Asean countries that were focused on non-traditional security issues - a strategy Zhang said was aimed at building trust with the countries and easing tensions over the territorial disputes.
"But it is questionable what these kinds of exercises can do to resolve the territorial disputes because these non-traditional security issues have nothing to do with the sovereignty problems," he said.
The Asean countries are expected to respond differently to China's joint-drills proposal, with some likely to accept the invitation while others - in particular Vietnam and the Philippines - would be wary, said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at Singapore's ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.
"Exercising with other navies reveals your weakness, which Vietnam will be keen to hide," Storey said. Chang yesterday said there were also other areas to work on together.
"At present, the regional situation is generally stable, but there are obvious downward economic pressures and non-traditional security challenges are increasing," he said, referring to the threat from terror groups.
"Forces from outside the region are using the internet [to threaten] social stability."
