The defence ministers of South East Asian nations, China, Japan and the United States are meeting today in Vietnam for the first time. The talks in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, follow months of tensions over China's claim to the South China Sea. China has also been in a tense standoff with Japan over disputed islands.The US supports Asian countries in seeking multilateral solutions to the growing range of disputes which China has criticised as interference. Analysts say that Hanoi, current Asean chair, will be trying to ease tensions and avoid conflict in the first formal gathering of defence ministers from around the region.