THE foreign ministers of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nation want China to dismantle weapon systems stationed in the disputed South China Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said Tuesday.
Most Asean members have expressed “grave concern” over the weapon systems and seek to prevent China’s militarization of the region through a legally binding code of conduct, Yasay added.
Over the past years, China has claimed some parts of the disputed South China Sea particularly the Philippine-owned-reefs-turned-islands in the Kalayaan Group of Islands (Spratlys) where Beijing has installed a weapons system.
Yasay said during a meeting of the foreign ministers, most expressed strong concerns over recent developments in the South China Sea, noting that an escalation would raise tensions and erode trust and confidence in the region.
“The Asean members have been unanimous in their expression of concern about what they see as a militarization of the region,” Yasay said.
“They have noticed… that China has installed weapon systems in this facility that they have established. And they have expressed a strong concern about this,” he added.
“The structures are there. The only way to have this removed, if China will refuse to remove it, is to remove it by force and we don’t want that,” Yasay said.
On the other hand, China could be persuaded to dismantle the system if Beijing is a signatory to a binding code of conduct in the South China Sea.
In 2002, China and the Asean signed a non-binding agreement to reduce tensions in the region and prevent claimant countries in the South China Sea from aggressively pursuing their claims.
China and the Asean have agreed to finish a more binding code of conduct framework by June.
“We are confident from the view point of the Philippines that the framework will be completed by middle of this year or soon thereafter simply on the basis of the fact that everyone including Asean members and China are pushing hard for this,” Yasay said.
During a meeting on Tuesday, Yasay said, “two or three or four” of the foreign ministers brought up the Philippines’ victorious arbitral case invalidating China’s excessive claims in the South China Sea.
“What they were simply just saying… is that we must respect that jurisprudence laid out in the arbitral tribunal’s ruling because that is part of international law,” he said.
He insisted that the Philippines will pursue bilateral negotiations with China in resolving its own claims in the disputed sea.
“The Philippines will always continue its bilateral talks in resolving the issue,” he said.
On July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China’s excessive nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea is illegal and violates the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea.
China has repeatedly and firmly rejected the ruling.