Muscle flexing by China in the East Sea is feeding regional insecurity, an Australian senior government minister was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal at a recent conference.

At the June 30 security and economic leadership conference held at the Australian National University, Australia’s Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said, “What the Chinese policy has been, and I think it’s curious that it has been so counterproductive, it has been to muscle up to one or other of its neighbours, or all of its neighbours at different times”.

He added that China has more to lose if it continues the aggressive policy.

Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will pay a visit to Australia in July and deliver an address to the Australian Parliament that both sides are committed to maintain the peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.

Australia and Japan recently agreed to strengthen security and trade ties as a counterbalance to China’s rise, Abbott added.

On June 30, the Voice of America (VOA) and the BBC quoted Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s address at a June cabinet meeting as saying that China has illegally placed its Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf since May 2 in defiance of the law, morality and the Vietnam-China relations.

China’s move not only seriously infringes upon Vietnam’s sovereignty, sovereign right and jurisdiction but also gravely threatens peace, stability and security in the region, the media reported.

Nhan Dan/VNA