South China Sea: avoid siding with US or China, Malaysia urges Asean

Malaysia on Wednesday warned that the South China Sea dispute that has emerged as a key proxy battle between the US and China could split the Asean bloc if countries gave in to the superpowers’ “narratives and pressure” over the row.The comments by Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein came days after his ministry sent an unusually terse diplomatic note to the United Nations rejecting Beijing’s sweeping maritime claims as part of its “nine-dash line”.‘Only one aggressor here’: Australian rivals…