China to host ASEAN defence ministers amid South China Sea tension

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it will host defence ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) next month, amid tension between some of its members and China over the disputed South China Sea. The Oct. 15-16 informal summit will take place in Beijing and China has invited the defence ministers of all 10 members, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a regular monthly news briefing. Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan will have a "deep exchange of views" with participants, he added, without elaborating. China has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. China's increasingly assertive moves to press its sovereignty claims have rattled its neighbours and aroused concern in the United States, though China says it has no hostile intent. A U.S. expert said this month, citing satellite photographs, China appeared to be carrying out preparatory work for a third airstrip in contested territory in the South China Sea. ID:nL1N11K26F] Wu declined to comment when asked whether China was indeed building a third airstrip, repeating the government's standard line that its construction work in the South China Sea was to satisfy "necessary defence needs". China stepped up creation of artificial islands in the South China Sea last year, drawing strong criticism from Washington. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)