Chinese Warships Dock In Florida As Ash Carter Waves "Big Stick" Around In South Pacific

"Earlier this week, 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and eight other countries, including China and the US held a summit to discuss defense and security in the South Pacific. Officially, this was the result:

Unofficially, Beijing and Washington reportedly couldn’t get past China’s Spratly sandcastles, which a US destroyer visited late last month in a show of force thinly disguised as a “freedom of navigation” exercise. Here’s WSJ: 

High-level defense talks crumbled over growing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, as the U.S. sought to show strength and assert its role as a counterweight to China.

“We couldn’t reach a consensus,” said Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein at the conclusion of the Asean Defense Ministers Meeting Plus, which brings together 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and eight other countries, including China and the U.S.

Mr. Hishammuddin denied that the rivalry between the U.S. and China was disrupting regional diplomacy, but behind the scenes other officials said the U.S. and China had been the main obstacles to any agreement.

“The Chinese lobbied to keep any reference to the South China Sea out of the final joint declaration,” said a senior U.S. defense official accompanying Defense Secretary Ash Carter at the meeting here.

A senior Philippine defense official said China had opposed any declaration that included mention of the South China Sea disputes, while the U.S. had opposed any declaration that omitted it..."

at  http://www.zerohedge.com/node/516063