The U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has said that Washington is committed to pushing Beijing to engage in negotiations with Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct for South China Sea, which is a "major, major, major highway of commerce."
Wrapping his six-day trip to India and Singapore, Biden told Bloomberg last Saturday that the United States was "doing everything to encourage that to be done, but it has to be done."
"It's in everyone's interest, including China's, to have it happen that way, through negotiating a settlement," said Joe Biden.
The push came after Beijing agreed to meet with the 10-member group this fall to set strong rules to avoid any conflict in the waters.
Tensions over the water disputes have risen in recent months as China is increasingly trying to use its military and economic power to force the neighboring countries to adhere to its map of the South China Sea.
Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Philippines to meet with President Benigno S. Aquino and the two leaders discussed the regional territory disputes over the South China Sea and East China Sea that the two countries face with China.
The water dispute with Beijing has prompted the ASEAN member to bolster its relationship with Tokyo.
The United States has promised its allies in Asia that it will build its military and economic presence in the region in the coming years and Biden's visit to the region follows the visits of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry in recent months.
Japan's annual report on defense capabilities and regional security, earlier this month, warned that Chinese "coercive" naval actions in the China Sea region could trigger an incident at any time.
"China's activities include its intrusion into Japan's territorial waters, its violation of Japan's territorial airspace and even dangerous actions that could cause a contingency," said the 450-page annual report.
Referring to China's recent assertiveness over the water dispute, the U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, said ""The United States stands firmly against any coercive attempts to alter the status quo.
"In the South China Sea, the United States continues to call on all claimants to exercise restraint as they publicly pledged in 2002, and to seek peaceful means to resolve these incidents," added the U.S. defense secretary at an Asia Security Summit held in Singapore.
