China and the U.S. appear to be heading for another confrontation over the disputed waters of the South China Sea during this week's East Asia summit—the first to be attended by a U.S. president—in Bali, Indonesia.
Beijing made it clear on Tuesday that it did not want to discuss any aspect of the South China Sea—where its claims overlap with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei—at the two-day summit, beginning Friday.
The White House, however, said later that the subject would come up in discussions on maritime security—a key concern for the U.S. as it seeks to re-assert its influence in Asia in the face of China's more robust diplomacy and maritime activities in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the Philippines, the government there repeated its call—already rejected by Beijing—for a meeting among claimants to discuss creating a "zone of peace" by clearly defining disputed and undisputed areas.
The statements highlight the tensions that will form the backdrop for talks Friday and Saturday among leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, and eight other countries: the U.S., China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Australia and New Zealand.
The broader group's forum is known as the East Asia Summit.
China is keen to resist any attempts by the U.S. to get more deeply involved in the South China Sea issue, as Beijing has long advocated addressing territorial disputes there with each of the claimants one by one.
"We hope the South China Sea will not be discussed at the East Asia Summit," China Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said at a briefing on Tuesday.
China was infuriated last year when Mrs. Clinton declared in a speech in Vietnam that the U.S. had a national interest in protecting freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, through which much of the world's trade passes.
However, the U.S. and several Southeast Asian countries have been advocating multilateral talks on the issue, an approach which experts say will help smaller claimant countries to stand up to China's economic and military might.
Ben Rhodes, a U.S. deputy national security adviser, said maritime security was one issue the U.S. will focus on at the summit, along with nonproliferation and disaster relief. "The South China Sea will certainly come up in that context," he said.
The U.S. hasn't specifically said it wants the South China Sea on the formal agenda of the East Asia Summit: Diplomats say it has been anxious not to appear too assertive at the meeting as U.S. President Barack Obama is attending for the first time.
But Washington has been encouraging its allies, partners and other countries in the region to play a greater role in standing up to China's more forceful diplomacy and protecting freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, diplomats and regional experts say.
Administration officials have asserted in the days leading up to the summit that the U.S. will seek to play to play a bigger role in countering China's claims in the South China Sea.
While Vietnam and the Philippines have been embroiled in a series of sea spats with China this year, other Asean members, who have better relations with China, appear reluctant to back the Philippines' proposal, diplomats say.
Mrs. Clinton was expected to discuss the territorial row with Albert del Rosario, the Philippines' foreign minister, and Voltaire Gazmin, its defense secretary, during a visit to the Philippines on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Mrs. Clinton was also due to join a ceremony Wednesday aboard the USS Fitzgerald marking the 60th anniversary of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, the AP said.
Mr. del Rosario issued a statement Tuesday urging Asean to play a more decisive role in the South China Sea and to help organize a summit to discuss the Philippines' proposal for creating a "zone of peace, freedom, friendship, and cooperation" there.
"We have been given the impression that political and economic considerations had hindered a fruitful and mutually acceptable outcome on the discussions" of the zone-of-peace proposal, said the statement, which was read out at a meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Bali. "Asean must play a decisive role at this time if it desires to realize its aspirations for global leadership."
An editorial published on the website of China's state-run Xinhua news agency said the proposal was designed to assist the Obama administration's initiative to reassert U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The timing the Philippines chose to toss out the South China Sea proposal is just to keep pace with the U.S. Pacific-Asian strategies," it said. "Now that Obama is scheduled to appear at the Asean Summit, the Philippines will embrace the 'golden chance' to get back at China, again churning up the South China Sea."
Mrs. Clinton was also due to join a ceremony Wednesday aboard the USS Fitzgerald marking the 60th anniversary of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, the AP said.
Mr. del Rosario issued a statement Tuesday urging Asean to play a more decisive role in the South China Sea and to help organize a summit to discuss the Philippines' proposal for creating a "zone of peace, freedom, friendship, and cooperation" there.
"We have been given the impression that political and economic considerations had hindered a fruitful and mutually acceptable outcome on the discussions" of the zone-of-peace proposal, said the statement, which was read out at a meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Bali. "Asean must play a decisive role at this time if it desires to realize its aspirations for global leadership."
An editorial published on the website of China's state-run Xinhua news agency said the proposal was designed to assist the Obama administration's initiative to reassert U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The timing the Philippines chose to toss out the South China Sea proposal is just to keep pace with the U.S. Pacific-Asian strategies," it said. "Now that Obama is scheduled to appear at the Asean Summit, the Philippines will embrace the 'golden chance' to get back at China, again churning up the South China Sea."
