China regrets failure to issue joint declaration at ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus

China on Wednesday expressed regret at the failure of the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus to publish a joint declaration.

The third ADMM-Plus held here in Malaysia on Wednesday failed to release a planned joint declaration.

Responding to a reporter's question about China's comment on this, the Information Office of China's Ministry of National Defense said that China regrets the failure to publish the joint declaration at this meeting.

The Chinese side has kept close coordination and communication with Malaysia, the rotating chair of the meeting, on the draft of the joint declaration, said the office, adding China has reached a consensus with Malaysia and other ASEAN countries on the content of the document.

However, it said some individual countries outside the region ignored the existing consensus and attempted to forcefully add into the declaration contents not discussed during the meeting.

Such behavior totally deviated the purposes and principles of the ADMM-Plus, and damaged the central and dominating role of ASEAN in the mechanism.

The Information Office said that under this circumstance, these individual countries should take full responsibility for the absence of the joint declaration.

China hopes that all sides cherish the hard-earned cooperation atmosphere at the ADMM-Plus, adhere to the purposes, principles and aims of the meeting, and play a constructive role in the future development of the mechanism, it added. Endit