China has recently requested that South Korea stop providing weapons systems to the Philippines due to Beijing's territorial dispute with Manila in the South China Sea, according to a South Korean government source cited by Seoul-based newspaper Weekly Dong-A.
The source said senior officials from the Chinese embassy and its military attache's office visited the South Korean foreign and defense ministries between June 10 and June 11. They were concerned about a deal made between South Korean defense minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Philippine counterpart Voltaire Gazmin on May 30, under which Seoul will give one multirole landing craft and 16 high-speed boats to Manila, according to the source.
The source said that Chinese senior officials demanded the South Korean foreign and defense ministries not send the vessels to the Philippines. Former US president Bill Clinton has also expressed his support for the Philippines in the dispute over the South China Sea. Clinton said that the Philippines is too powerless to deal with China alone.
Clinton suggested that China and all nations claiming the sovereignty over the South China Sea resolve their dispute together through multilateral negotiations. Agence France-Presse said on Aug. 4 that the Philippines has already gained support from Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei to find a comprehensive solution for the dispute over the South China Sea during the 47th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, this week.
The paper reported that China, Japan, South Korea and the United States are all invited to send representatives to attend the meeting in Naypyidaw on Aug. 8. China's Global Times said it will be a tough battle for Chinese diplomats to fight since they are going to encounter pressures from Japan, Vietnam, the Philippine and the United States over the South China Sea.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140806000119&cid=1101&MainCatID=0
