ASEAN event ducks S.China Sea issue

Statement on maritime dispute unlikely

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Senior Officials’ Meeting (ASEAN SOM) was held Friday in Vientiane, Laos, ahead of the 49th Foreign Ministers Meeting on Sunday, where experts say they do not expect a joint statement on the South China Sea to be released, in spite of intense pressure facing China.

Alounkeo Kittikhoun, Laos’ ASEAN SOM Leader and Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office of Laos, hosted the closed-door conference, which was attended by senior diplomats from 10 ASEAN

member states.

Cambodia’s Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Soeung Rathchavy, who is also the head of the Cambodian delegation to the ASEAN SOM this year, told the Global Times on Friday that it is possible for ASEAN states to discuss the South China Sea code of conduct in the upcoming meetings.

When asked if there are any opportunities for maritime cooperation between China and ASEAN members, Rathchavy said ASEAN and China are working closely together on the issue and that it is “one of our priorities.”

Observers believe discussion of the code of conduct and the implementation of the Declaration on the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea will pave the way for risk control and maritime collaboration, though China is likely only to restate its standpoint on the arbitration award, Chen Xiangmiao, an assistant researcher at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Friday.

However, a joint statement on the dispute is still unlikely to be issued at the ASEAN meeting, Chen added, explaining that ASEAN member states hold a variety of different stances on the South China Sea issue. Countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos support bilateral dialogue, while Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore endorse the implementation of the arbitration award.

Despite suspicion that the South China Sea topic will be hotly debated at the ASEAN meetings, an anonymous Thai diplomat at the ASEAN SOM told the Global Times that the Friday meeting stopped short of discussing the South China Sea issue.

“The meeting focused more on ASEAN issues,” the diplomat said.

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo, who headed the Philippine delegation at the ASEAN SOM, declined to be interviewed by the Global Times on Friday.

Xu Bu, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN, also attended the Friday meeting.

According to a press release, the ASEAN SOM continued discussions of efforts toward the effective implementa- tion of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, particularly the implementation of the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025. Senior officials also exchanged views on the promotion of ASEAN’s external relations and ASEAN Centrality.

Award raises complexity

Analysts believe that in the postSouth China Sea arbitration era, the complexity and level of potential conflicts will rise.

“It is also consistent with the US strategy toward the South China Sea since 2009. The Obama administration knew it would be difficult to outmaneuver China and therefore wished to increase the cost of China’s strategic moves to lengthen the time it takes for China to achieve its goal,” Xue Li, a senior research fellow with the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.

Xue pointed out that China’s rise has gradually changed the geopolitical situation in Southeast Asia.

He said the US is concerned that China’s rise might threaten its hege- mony and its interests in the region, and the fact that some Southeast Asian countries had doubts over China’s rise provided leeway for Washington’s “pivot to Asia” strategy.

Chinese FM to arrive

According to information provided by the press department of the Lao foreign ministry, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to arrive in Vientiane at 11:30 am on Sunday.

Wang will engage in extensive bilateral meetings with ASEAN foreign ministers and will exchange opinions on issues that concern both parties, the Global Times has learned.

He will also attend the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on Monday and the 17th ASEAN Plus Three [China, Japan and South Korea] Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the sixth East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 23rd ASEAN Regional Forum on Tuesday.

Liu Zhenmin, China’s vice foreign minister, is expected to attend the ASEAN Plus Three Senior Officials’ Meeting and the EAS Senior Officials’ Meeting on Saturday.