U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and top diplomats from Europe and Asia are meeting to discuss regional security issues this weekend. The meeting opened Friday for talks among ministers from 10 Southeast Asian countries and expands over the weekend to comprise 27 countries who are members of the so-called ASEAN Regional Forum, including the United States, Russia, China, India, South Korea and North Korea. Here are things to watch for:
DISPUTES WITH CHINA
Territorial disputes over the South China Sea threaten to turn every regional meeting into a tug-of-war between China’s allies and critics. This round comes after China deployed a deep-sea oil rig for two months near islands claimed also by Vietnam. China’s withdrawal of the rig in mid-July removed an irritant but left a legacy of anger and strained relations with Vietnam and raised questions among China’s other neighbors about its long-term strategy. The U.S. and several Southeast Asian countries will be looking to calm tensions stoked by the rig and will push for a freeze in actions that change the status quo, officials say, such as seizing unoccupied islands and land reclamation. Chinese officials have already made clear they don’t support the proposal. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and resents what it sees as U.S. meddling in its affairs. The other claimants include the Philippines, which is a U.S. treaty ally, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. China has a separate territorial conflict with Japan in the East China Sea, which could come up between their ministers. Japan angered China last week by assigning names to five small islands that are part of a cluster which both nations claim.
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