Japan, ASEAN vow to cooperate in maritime security in Indo-Pacific

Foreign ministers from Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Thursday pledged to cooperate in promoting maritime security in the Indo-Pacific in a veiled counter to China's muscle-flexing in regional waters.In a meeting with his ASEAN counterparts in Phnom Penh, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi voiced "strong opposition" to any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East and South China seas, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.The ministry, however, did not say whether the ministers discussed simmering tensions between China and the United States o…READ FULL ARTICLE