China wants military exercises and energy exploration with Southeast Asian nations in the disputed waters, according to a draft document, but insists on outside countries being excluded in what analysts said was a bid to diminish US influence.
Beijing’s suggestions are part of its efforts to expand its influence in the South China Sea, which it claims almost entirely, and push back at Washington, which has backed countries with overlapping claims to the waters.
A code of conduct between Beijing and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to govern behavior in the strategic sea has been years in the making.
The draft document outlines different countries’ bargaining positions as they work towards an agreement, and analysts said it represented some initial progress.
In the text, Vietnam offers the strongest opposition to Beijing’s activities”•calling for countries to stop building artificial islands and establishing military installations.
But there was little sign of serious resistance from other countries, signaling how the opposition to China’s aggressive expansion in the resource-rich waters has ebbed in recent years in Southeast Asia.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims to China’s in the sea.
Tensions have escalated in recent years due to Beijing building artificial islands that can host military bases.
Meanwhile, the US”•traditionally the dominant military power in the area”•has more frequently carried out patrols aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation.
In the draft text, Beijing suggests that China and the 10 Asean states should carry out joint military exercises regularly.
However, the drills should not involve countries outside the region “unless the parties concerned are notified beforehand and express no objection.”
The suggestion to exclude outside countries “is obviously targeted at the US, which has been dominating the waters of the Western Pacific and the South China Sea in particular,” Hoang Thi Ha, from the Asean Studies Center, ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said.
By proposing joint military exercises, China is trying to send a “subtle message to the world that ASEAN and China could work together and things are progressing well, hence there is no need for external involvement in the South China Sea issue,” said Ha.
Beijing also suggested that China and Asean could carry out joint oil and gas exploration in the waters but again proposed that firms from countries outside the region be excluded from such activities, the document showed.
At a meeting of foreign ministers in Singapore on Thursday, Beijing and Asean announced they had agreed on the negotiating text for the code.
Vietnam has offered some of the stiffest resistance to China in the sea in recent times, regularly complaining about Beijing’s activities on contested islands and in disputed waters.
Tensions reached fever pitch in 2014 when China moved an oil rig into the waters claimed by Hanoi.
However, opposition has weakened in other parts of Southeast Asia, with analysts saying that countries are keen to attract Chinese investment and are worried about US commitment to the region under President Donald Trump.
The Philippines, under previous president Benigno Aquino, had been a leading voice against China’s expansion in the sea and used Asean events to pressure Beijing”•but President Rodrigo Duterte has reversed that policy.
A critic of that policy, acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday said he will not oppose the proposed deal with China for a joint exploration and development in the contested areas in South China Sea for as long as it complies with the Constitution.
Carpio, who has been criticizing the Duterte administration’s supposed inaction on the growing Chinese building in the disputed maritime territories in the South China Sea, said the government should make sure that the country’s sovereignty would not be compromised in the proposed 60-40 sharing scheme with China.
Nonetheless, Carpio said he will support the China deal should the government ensure that no sovereignty would be surrendered in the proposed agreement with Beijing.
“As long as the joint development complies with the Philippine Constitution and there is no waiver of our sovereign rights under the arbitral ruling, I have no objection,” Carpio said, in a text message.
Carpio was referring to the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in July 2012 in favor of the Philippines against China’s claims over South China Sea territories.
In the ruling, the PCA invalidated China’s historic nine-dash line claim over most of the South China Sea.
It also held that Beijing violated its commitment under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in building artificial islands within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The tribunal also ruled that Scarborough Shoal is rock, which is allowed only a 12-nautical mile territorial sea and has no EEZ or continental shelf.
It also found that China failed to respect traditional fishing rights of Filipino fishermen by preventing access to the shoal after May 2012.
The PCA also ruled that China breached its obligations under the UNCLOS by operating its law enforcement vessels in the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal, creating serious risk of collision and danger to Philippine vessels and personnel.
China has rejected the decision and refuses to recognize the tribunal.
Recently, Carpio called on Duterte t administration to file a protest and seek monetary compensation from China for preventing Filipinos from fishing in Panatag or Scarborough Shoal. “‹