China wants everyone to tiptoe around the biggest issue

Updated, 3pm GMT: To reflect Mr Wang's statement to the effect that China has ceased its reclamation work in the South China Sea

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), an annual talking-shop, was set up to cover issues of regional security and brings together the parties (except Taiwan) with the biggest stakes in the territorial disputes in the sea. With its 27 members convening in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, the forum might be expected to discuss tensions such as those caused by China’s massive recent construction work on disputed reefs and rocks in the South China Sea. But that is not the way everyone in the ARF sees it.