MANILA: US President Donald Trump offered on Sunday to mediate in a territorial dispute over the resource-rich South China Sea, after years of Chinese island-building in the contested waters.
Trump’s surprise proposal to insert himself into the decades-long row risked a backlash from China, which has repeatedly said the United States has no role to play in what it insists is a series of bilateral issues.
“If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me know... I am a very good mediator,” Trump told Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang in Hanoi during an official state visit.
Trump’s comments came shortly before Chinese President Xi Jinping began his own state visit to Vietnam, in the capital Hanoi.
China claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea, through which $5 trillion in shipping trade passes annually. It is also believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims in the sea, and the dispute has long been seen as a potential trigger for conflict in Asia.
Vietnam has courted support from Washington in the row, as it and other claimants have been powerless to stop China’s efforts in recent years to cement its claims by building artificial islands in disputed areas.
Trump’s offer came just before he flew to the Philippine capital of Manila for another regional summit.
Thanks, but...: However, his proposal was not immediately accepted by the Philippines, which under President Rodrigo Duterte has sought to defuse tensions with China over the row in favour of closer economic ties.
“We thank him for it. It’s a very kind, generous offer because he is a good mediator. He is the master of the art of the deal,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said when asked about Trump’s offer.
“But of course the claimant countries have to answer as a group or individually and not one country can just give an instant reply because mediation involves all of the claimants and non-claimants.” — AFP
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