THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China on Sunday finally approved the framework of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and 15 years after they signed the Declaration of Conduct, a non-biding edict, in 2002.
The 10-member bloc and China approved the framework and will start formally negotiating the COC, even as Beijing insisted “no major disruption from other countries”.
The Asean members were battling Sunday to find a compromise on how to deal with Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, with Cambodia lobbying hard for Beijing, diplomats said.
Foreign ministers from the Asean failed to release a joint statement as scheduled on Saturday evening, and tense follow-up negotiations the next morning could still not end the stand-off, two diplomats involved in the talks told AFP.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including the waters approaching the coasts of Asean members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China had agreed to start the formal COC consultations if “the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable and if there is no major disruption from outside parties”.
“That is a precondition, and then during the November leaders’ meeting we will jointly announce the official start of the COC consultation,” Wang told the reporters.
The DOC was signed in 2002 between China and Asean, a non-binding edict aimed to reduce the tensions in the region and prevent claimant-countries China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan from aggressively pursuing their claims.
The Code of Conduct, on the other hand, is a more binding edict that was enshrined in the DOC. It hopes to further promote peace and stability in the economically vital sea lane.
Wang also confirmed that the “framework” or the outline of the COC was “agreed upon and approved” during the Asean-China meeting in Manila.
Wang did not mention which “outside countries” may disrupt the “stability” in the South China Sea, but during his first official visit he called on the Asean to “unite and stand together” against other “intervention” in the disputed waters.
Wang, in his official visit, claimed that the goal of those “non-regional forces” intervening with the ongoing dispute was instability in the sea.
“If there are still non-regional forces in the region, they don’t want to see stability in the South China Sea and they still want to stir up trouble in the South China Sea, we need to stand together and we need to say no to them together,” Wang said.
In July, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop criticized China’s reclamation in the South China Sea and urged all claimants to respect international law.
The US also said that freedom of navigation was an International concern and that any tension would affect trade, peace and stability in the disputed sea.
During the Asean-China meeting, Wang said China had an “in-depth discussion” with the 10 Foreign Ministers of the Asean.
“That was a good cooperation for the Leader Summit coming up in November this year,” Wang said.
He said the atmosphere was “very positive and frankly, and it was a very successful meeting”.
This, he said, was due to the “positive momentum” in the disputed waters, stressing that the situation was different from the past and China and the Asean were now working together to ease the tension in the South China Sea. With AFP