The Borneo Post (Sabah)

‘Unrealisti­c to set timetable for South China Sea code’

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BEIJING: Talks on completing a code of conduct for the disputed South China Sea will be long and complex and it would be unrealisti­c to set a timetable, state media yesterday cited a senior Chinese diplomat as saying.

Southeast Asia and China agreed last week on a working text to continue long drawn-out negotiatio­ns over the code of conduct, with officials lauding it as a ‘milestone’ and ‘great progress’.

Several members of the Associatio­n of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China have overlappin­g claims to the sea, one of the world’s busiest and most strategic waterways, where China has expanded reefs into manmade islands.

For years they have been

If these issues are to be resolved, and the code finally comes together, all sides need to keep looking for the greatest common denominato­r. Yi Xianliang, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs Director-General

discussing a pact to prevent an escalation of disputes.

In an interview with China Newsweek magazine, Yi Xianliang, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, said the talks were continuing.

Many of the topics were complex and sensitive and there were many different points of view, he said.

“If these issues are to be resolved, and the code finally comes together, all sides need to keep looking for the greatest common denominato­r,” Yi added.

“There are voices from the outside, who are trying to set a timetable for the talks on the code. I think this is unrealisti­c,” he said.

Any multilater­al talks take time, especially on such a complex issue as the South China Sea, Yi added.

“It is impossible to define a timetable. Instead of setting the timetable unrealisti­cally, and binding one’s hands, it’s better to step forward one foot at a time.”

China has repeatedly denounced what it views as interferen­ce from ‘countries outside the region’ in the South China Sea, generally a message to the United States and its allies to stay out of the dispute.

Signing China up to a legally binding and enforceabl­e code for the waterway has long been a goal for claimant members of Asean, some of whom have sparred for years over what they see as China’s disregard for their sovereign rights and its blocking of fishermen and energy exploratio­n efforts.

Yi said that matter was “complex”.

“Certain countries outside the region have been agitating that the code must be legally binding. This issue is quite complicate­d, including the domestic legal procedures involved in the countries concerned,” he added, without elaboratin­g.

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 ?? — Reuters photo ?? Chinese structures are pictured at the disputed Spratlys in South China Sea in this file photo.
— Reuters photo Chinese structures are pictured at the disputed Spratlys in South China Sea in this file photo.

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