CHINA has “won” in the Shangri-La Dialogue as Japan and South Korea refuse to agree on security measures in the South China Sea.
Pressure on Beijing’s island building in the disputed seas has eased since defence ministers from Japan and South Korea failed to negotiate security. The pair were due to meet at the Asian security forum in Singapore until it was decided formal talks would be “premature”, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. International relations expert Stephen Nagy said the only winner between the two US allies would be China.
China rages US ‘playing with FIRE’ over support for independent Taiwan
Mr Nagy told SCMP: “My sense is that Japan sees South Korea as not engaging in negotiations on a number of issues and not adhering in good faith to agreements that it has already signed.
“Japan is not ready to get into any more agreements because it fears that Seoul will not follow through or that they will become politicised in the future.
“Tokyo wants binding, long-lasting agreements rather than having to renegotiate something each time a new Korean government comes in.
“The biggest winner in this stand-off between the US’ two most important allies in the region is, of course, China.
South China Sea
“They must be delighted to see this playing out because it means the US is not able to exert nearly as much pressure in areas such as the South China Sea.”
The US has vowed to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open.
They have conducted several freedom of navigation operations in the area to push back China’s claims on the sea.
China claims almost all of the strategic South China Sea with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam pushing competing claims to parts of the maritime region.