US President Barack Obama pledged Tuesday to bring up maritime disputes boiling between China and its neighbors at the US-ASEAN and East Asia summits in Brunei in October.

Brunei has already said that it will pursue a binding code of conduct among competing claimants in the South China Sea during its ASEAN chairmanship this year. China insists disputes are a bilateral matter between individual nations.

"We will be discussing maritime issues," Obama said after meeting Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in the Oval Office, referring to the two summits, which he is expected to attend.

"Obviously, there have been a lot of tensions in the region around maritime issues and His Majesty has shown great leadership in order to bring the countries together to make sure that everybody's abiding by basic precepts of rule of law and international standards."

Obama said the summits would also be a good venue to discuss commerce, economic and other diplomatic issues impacting a region to which he has "pivoted" US diplomatic and military resources.

ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, and non-member Taiwan have claims to parts of the South China Sea, one of the world's most important shipping lanes which is believed to be rich in fossil fuels.

Simmering tensions over the issue have risen in the past two years, with the Philippines and Vietnam accusing China of becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claims.

The anger erupted during Cambodia's 2012 ASEAN chairmanship which was marked by sharp regional discord over the affair.

Efforts to secure a legally binding code of conduct involving ASEAN and China have floundered for years amid Beijing's insistence on handling disputes bilaterally with individual countries, while ASEAN wants to speak as a group.

The president also noted in his remarks that the United States would take part later this year in the first ASEAN-US-China joint exercise, to test how Pacific military powers can work together on disaster relief.

Obama said the maneuvers in June would be able to show how the rival militaries can "help people in times of need and to try to help avoid conflict rather than start conflict."

On a lighter note, Obama also expressed admiration for the Sultan's piloting skills, after he flew his own jumbo jet into the United States on Monday.

"I think he's probably the only head of state in the world who flies a 747 himself," Obama said.

Obama became the first US president to attend the East Asia summit in Bali in 2011 and also took part in the 2012 meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Japan seeks defence ties with ASEAN amid China rows
Tokyo (AFP) March 13, 2013 - Japan on Wednesday called for stronger security ties with Southeast Asia as Tokyo looks to boost alliances at a time of growing territorial tensions with China.

Vice-minister level representatives from Japan and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began a two-day gathering at a Tokyo hotel, with several participating nations embroiled in sovereignty rows with Beijing.

"The Asia-Pacific region has various issues concerning security and defence... including territorial conflicts in the South China Sea," Vice Defence Minister Akinori Eto told the opening session of the closed-door meeting.

"On top of the growing maturity of our economic cooperation, Japan and ASEAN need to further strengthen ties in the field of security and defence," Eto said.

The meeting is the first high-ranking defence dialogue of its kind since hawkish Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office late December following a landslide victory in general elections.

"Our country changed governments late last year," Eto said. "Under the new regime, we want to reinforce cooperation in security and defence with ASEAN countries and contribute to peace in the region," he added.

Ahead of the meeting, the ASEAN participants met Abe late Tuesday and voiced their high expectations from Japan "in dealing with various security issues of the Asia-Pacific region," the defence ministry said in a statement.

Japan, along with several members of ASEAN have locked horns with China over separate territorial disputes.

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have deteriorated badly over the last year as the two sides argued about the sovereignty of Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China Sea.

On Tuesday, three Chinese government ships spent several hours in the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off one of the Senkaku islands, claimed by Beijing under the name Diaoyus. Taiwan also claims them.

ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as China and Taiwan, have claims to parts of the South China Sea, which contains some of the world's most important shipping lanes and is believed to be rich in fossil fuels.

Simmering tensions over the issue have risen in the past two years, with the Philippines and Vietnam accusing China of becoming increasingly aggressive.

China claims most of the sea, including waters close to the shores of its neighbours.

Relations between the Philippines and China have become particularly tense since patrol vessels from both countries engaged in a stand-off over the Scarborough Shoal in April.

Analysts said China's recent prickliness meant regional alliances made sense.

"Japan and ASEAN can regard security cooperation as a realistic option because China is their common adversary," said Hideshi Takesada, a Japanese defence expert and former professor at South Korea's Yonsei University.

"Practically, Japan can provide defence technologies or equipment to ASEAN so that Japan can win their trust," said Takesada, who is also former professor at Japan's National Institute for Defense Studies.

Japan reportedly plans to donate patrol boats worth more than $10 million each to the Philippines, ramping up regional efforts to monitor China's maritime activity in disputed waters.

The Japanese government plans to finance the deal in its fiscal 2013 budget starting in April and hopes to officially sign it early next year, the Nikkei business daily reported last month.