【Comment】
馬來西亞與中國雖有領土爭議,卻決定在明年舉行首度聯合軍事演習。
解放軍總參謀長受邀訪問馬來西亞位於婆羅洲的 Mawilla 2 軍港,這是解放軍海軍艦隊首度與南中國海國家建立關係。由於東協國家多與中國有主權衝突,故努力統一陣線中。馬來西亞雖保持低調,但其舉動會引起何種效應尚未知曉。
中國雖贊成建立南海準則,卻絕不放棄領土主張。此時,歐巴馬正好與習近平一退一近,很難不讓人懷疑美國的承諾。
China, Malaysia to hold
first ever joint military drill next year◎interaksyon(2013.10.30)http://www.interaksyon.com/article/73815/china-malaysia-to-hold-first-ever-joint-military-drill-next-year
KUALA LUMPUR -- China
and Malaysia will hold their first-ever joint
military exercises next year, the Southeast Asian nation's defense
minister said Wednesday, despite their rival claims
to the tense South China Sea.
The announcement by Hishammuddin Hussein , who
is in Beijing to meet Chinese military leaders, follows a visit to Kuala Lumpur
earlier this month by China's President Xi Jinping ,
in which the two countries pledged closer ties.
"Malaysia and China
are expected to launch our first joint exercise in 2014 after the Memorandum
of Understanding on Defense Cooperation was signed in 2005,"
Hishammuddin said in a statement sent to AFP.
The statement gave no
details on the planned drills such as their
location, scale, or which military branches would be involved.
A Malaysian defense
ministry official confirmed they would be the first-ever drills between the two
countries' armed forces.
Hishammuddin, who met
his counterpart General Chang
Wanquan in China, also said he
invited Chang to visit the Malaysian naval base of Mawilla 2 in the South China Sea on
the island of Borneo.
The visit
would be aimed at launching a "direct-contact" relationship with
China's fleet in the South China Sea.
The resource-rich
waterway has become a potential military flashpoint in recent years as Beijing
has pressed its claim to nearly all of it.
Malaysia, Brunei, the
Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have various claims -- some overlapping --
to the sea, a vital thoroughfare for world trade and shipping traffic.
The 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Malaysia, Brunei, the
Philippines and Vietnam are members, has sought to
present a united front against China.
It was not
immediately clear how Malaysia's warming defense ties with China would be
received in other ASEAN capitals.
While the Philippines
and Vietnam have been involved in tense confrontations with China over the
issue, Malaysia has sought to keep a lower profile
in the dispute.
In recent years, China
has become Malaysia's top export market and a vital trade buffer against the
world economic volatility, and their commerce and overall relationship has
strengthened.
Xi's visits to Indonesia
and Malaysia and his attendance at a regional summit in Bali took on added
significance after President Barack
Obama cancelled his own plans to
visit due to the recent US government shutdown.
The episode symbolically
highlighted the two giants' rivalry for influence in the Asia-Pacific and raised questions over Washington 's
promise to refocus its attention on the
region.
China agreed this year
to discuss with ASEAN an eventual binding set of rules to prevent accidental
conflict at sea, but analysts say Beijing will
never give up its territorial claims and they
predict maritime tensions will continue to simmer.
沒有留言:
張貼留言
請網友務必留下一致且可辨識的稱謂
顧及閱讀舒適性,段與段間請空一行