Southeast Asian leaders stepped up pressure on China to respect international law following clashes in the disputed South China Sea during annual summit talks on Thursday, but Chinese Premier Li Qiang was defiant as he blamed “external forces” for interfering in regional affairs.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' meeting with Li followed recent violent confrontations at sea this year between China and ASEAN members Philippines and Vietnam that heightened unease over China's increasingly assertive actions in the contested waters.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who will take over the rotating ASEAN chair next year, said the bloc has called for an early conclusion to a code of conduct to govern the South China Sea. Talks on the code of conduct have been ongoing for years, hampered by sticky issues including disagreements over whether the pact should be binding.

ASEAN reiterated the need to maintain peace and security in the strategic waterway, he said, according to Malaysian national news agency Bernama.

But Li said meddling by foreign forces is creating conflicts within the region.

“We must realize that our development is also facing some unstable and uncertain factors. In particular, external forces frequently interfere and even try to introduce bloc confrontation and geopolitical conflicts into Asia,” Li said during an ASEAN meeting with China, Japan and South Korea. He called for more dialogue between countries to ensure disputes are resolved amicably.

Li didn’t name the foreign forces but China has previously warned the U.S. not to meddle in the region’s territorial disputes.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in Vientiane on Thursday for the meetings, is expected to raise the issue of China’s aggression in the sea, officials said. The U.S. has no claims but it has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets to patrol the waterway and promote freedom of navigation and overflight.

ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei along with Taiwan have overlapping claims with China, which claims sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea. Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed repeatedly this year, and Vietnam said last week that Chinese forces assaulted its fishermen in the disputed sea. China has also sent patrol vessels to areas that Indonesia and Malaysia claim as exclusive economic zones.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made clear to Li during talks Thursday that ASEAN-China cooperation cannot be separated from the sea dispute, according to an ASEAN official who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the discussion.

Li responded by saying the South China Sea is “a shared home” and that China has an obligation to protect its sovereignty, the official said. The Philippines, a longtime U.S. ally, has been critical of other ASEAN countries for not doing more to get China to back away.

Aside from regional security issues, China's Li also emphasized Beijing and ASEAN's economic ties, saying intensifying trade relations and creating an “ultra large-scale market” are keys to economic prosperity amid rising trade protectionism.

ASEAN and China said they expect to conclude negotiations to upgrade their free trade pact next year. Since the two sides signed the pact covering a market of 2 billion people in 2010, ASEAN’s trade with China has leaped from $235.5 billion to $696.7 billion last year.

China is ASEAN's No. 1 trading partner and its third-largest source of foreign investment — a key reason why the bloc has been reluctant to criticize Chinese actions in the South China Sea.

ASEAN leaders, who held a summit among themselves on Wednesday, also separately met with new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

ASEAN elevated its ties with South Korea to a “comprehensive strategic partnership." Yoon said the new designation will further help both sides to “create a new future together.”

Ishiba also pledged to boost the Japan-ASEAN relationship by providing patrol vessels and training on maritime law enforcement, strengthening economic security through financial and other support and bolstering cybersecurity.

“Japan shares principles such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and would like to create and protect the future together with ASEAN,” he said.

The bloc is also holding individual talks with dialogue partners India, Australia, Canada, the U.S. and the United Nations that will culminate in an East Asia Summit of 18 nations including Russia and New Zealand on Friday.

Former ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said that despite challenges in addressing disputes in the South China Sea and the Myanmar civil war, ASEAN's central role in the region is undisputable.

“ASEAN and its diplomatic maneuvers have sustained the relative peace and progress of Southeast Asia to date. ASEAN will continue to be useful in that regard. Big powers cannot do what they wish in the region,” said Ong, who is now deputy chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

Nearly 6,000 people have been killed and over 3 million displaced in a civil war after the Myanmar army ousted an elected government in 2021. The military has backtracked on an ASEAN peace plan it agreed to in late 2021 and fighting has continued with pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic rebels.

Myanmar's top generals have been shut out of ASEAN summits since the military takeover. Thailand will host an informal ASEAN ministerial-level consultation on Myanmar in mid-December as frustration grows in the bloc over the prolonged conflict.