While many Asean countries have welcomed China's investment – such as the $6bn Brunei-Chinese refinery deal inked in November – some have distanced themselves geopolitically from Beijing.
"When they're done, the place is going to look like Universal Studios," said Robin Foo, a Brunei-born Chinese architect who has spent the last six years turning a local Yuan dynasty temple into a swank cafe and catering hall.
More than 875 million of China's 1.28 billion people speak Mandarin, and it is also spoken in Taiwan and the influential Chinese communities of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines.
About 15% of Brunei's people are non-Muslim ethnic Chinese.
When asked to comment about concerns that China might set up a similar zone over the South China Sea – where it has disputes with the Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam Ma Keqingng said it was the Chinese government's right to decide "where and when to set up the new air identification zone".
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the Brunei gathering Thursday that "positive, steady progress" was being made on a legally binding code of conduct to manage disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims sovereignty over its islands, rich fisheries and energy resources.
President Clinton and the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, reviewed the agreement in Brunei before the announcement.
Brunei's population is predominantly Sunni Muslim, although the Chinese usually follow Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, or Christianity.
China's top leaders have stayed silent in public, but Prime Minister Li Keqiang raised the issue briefly in private with Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of a meeting in Brunei on Thursday, according to an American official and Chinese state media.
The Chinese claims have raised tensions with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan as well as with Vietnam.
They were eight men and six women, among them a handful of Britons but also Chinese, Americans, a Pole, a Dutchman and a citizen of Brunei, among others.
