MANILA (Reuters) – A Southeast Asian security grouping similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is currently not possible given divergent interests and alliances in the region, the Philippines’ defense secretary said on Tuesday.

Asked about the prospect of a NATO equivalent in Southeast Asia, Gilberto Teodoro told a security forum that ASEAN’s “complex dichotomies and divergence in country interests” would make it difficult to establish a unified military alliance. For example, we have a pre- ASEAN Defense Alliance with the United States of America. We continue to build alliances with like-minded countries,” he told a security forum in Manila.

“Other ASEAN countries have built alliances with China”.

The remarks came after Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, before taking office floated the idea of ​​establishing an “Asian NATO,” a proposal that did not gain traction and was rejected by the United States and India.

Japan’s foreign minister later said such an idea was not aimed at countering any particular country, when asked if he had China in mind. Teodoro said he would prefer ASEAN to recognize that China is “overreaching” in the South China Sea. There have been recent clashes over territorial claims with the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.

China and US ally the Philippines have faced a series of clashes near disputed areas in the South China Sea. Manila has accused China’s coast guard of aggression, and Beijing has said it is responding to what it calls repeated provocations and territorial incursions.

“Getting some principles or reactions to China’s expansive activities and certainly illegal activities in the South China Sea is a very good first step and that’s what we should be working on,” Teodoro said.

The Philippines has urged Southeast Asian leaders and China to urgently speed up negotiations on a code of conduct for the South China Sea to manage differences and reduce tension.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis, siding with the Philippines that brought the case. Beijing rejected the decision.

(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Martin Petty and John Mair)