U.S. Navy commander suggests ASEAN patrols in South China Sea

WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- The commander of the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet has called on nations in Southeast Asia to create a combined maritime force to patrol the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

Vice Admiral Robert Thomas said Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, members who wish to create a patrolling force would receive the support of his fleet. Tensions flare up in the waters as China takes claim to four-fifths of the South China Sea.

ASEAN members include Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, but not all of the 10 members have interests in the sea.

China has increased reclamation works on reefs in the sea. Talks were agreed in 2013 over a code of conduct in the South China Sea between China and Asean countries, but progress has been poor.

"Perhaps easier said than done, from both a policy and organization perspective, such an initiative could help crystallize the operational objectives in the training events that ASEAN navies want to pursue," Thomas said during a panel session with navy chiefs. "If ASEAN members were to take the lead in organizing something along those lines, trust me, the U.S. 7th Fleet would be ready to support."

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that a joint peacekeeping force would help countries rebuild trust after debilitating disagreements over how to deal with China's territorial challenges to the sea.

"We need to find matters where we can unite," Hussein said at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition, where Thomas also spoke. "If we continue to look only at dotted lines and competing claims, the future looks very bleak."

The combined maritime force by ASEAN countries is ''a nice idea, but it will never be anything meaningful," Richard Bitzinger, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told Bloomberg.

''Creating interoperability will be a nightmare, you need common communications equipment, intelligence-sharing agreements," Bitzinger said. "Above all you need a common threat perception.''

Disputes over territory in the South China Sea are common.

In 2014, China's positioning of a rig in waters claimed by Vietnam raised questions about its territorial commitments, according to a senior U.S. diplomat.

Beijing said it deployed the rig within its maritime borders, but Vietnam said the rig's deployment is a violation of international laws. China is seen as taking "provocative" actions in the sea against most of its littoral neighbors.