parties following recent developments in the South China Sea, including land reclamation, as well as escalation of tension on the ground,” Anifah Aman told reporters.
Beijing claims control over nearly all of the South China Sea, a key shipping route thought to hold rich oil and gas reserves.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei — all Asean members — also have various claims, as does Taiwan, many of which overlap.
Beijing insists disputes must be handled on a bilateral basis between rival claimants. Diplomats and analysts say this stance is aimed at preventing Asean from presenting a more united front.
But delegates say China will not be able to escape the issue in Kuala Lumpur this week.
“This is not Cambodia or Laos,” one diplomat attending the talks told AFP, referring to a 2012 foreign ministers’ meeting in which host Cambodia — China’s ally — was accused of preventing discussion of it.
Adding to the tensions, a Washington-based think tank said this week Beijing could be preparing to build a second airstrip on an artificial island.
China is already building a 3,000-metre runway on Fiery Cross reef, which could ultimately be used for combat operations, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Wang rejected calls by some rival claimants and the United States to suspend the land reclamation.
“The freeze proposal may seem even-handed on the surface but it is actually unrealistic and will not work in practice,” he said.
The talks will expand over the coming two days into the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry, China’s Wang and envoys from the wider region including Japan, the Koreas, Russia and elsewhere.
Kerry, who landed in Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon after a brief stopover in Singapore, is to meet Wang on Wednesday morning on the sidelines.