South China Sea row in focus at Asean meeting
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Southeast Asia’s top diplomats kicked o\ a major regional forum yesterday with a firm focus on trying to ease tensions with China over a territorial row, amid warnings that failure could lead to conßict.
Toxic smoke from uncontrolled burning of Indonesia’s enormous rainforests that has drifted across to neighboring countries was also expected to be on the agenda at the annual 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) foreign ministers’ meeting in Brunei’s capital.
The talks will expand on Monday and Tuesday to include the United States, China, Japan, Russia and other countries across the Asia- Pacific, providing the platform for hectic face- toface diplomacy on many of the world’s hot-button issues.
As with previous regional gatherings, concerns over China’s increasingly assertive actions in staking its claims to most of the South China Sea were set to dominate.
Setting the tone for the event, a powerful arm of China’s state-run media warned the Philippines on Saturday that its defi ance could lead to aggressive Chinese action.
“If the Philippines continues to provoke China... a counterstrike will be hard to avoid,” said a commentary run by the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party.
ASEAN members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan, also claim parts of the strategically vital South China Sea.
The waterway, which is believed to sit atop vast deposits of oil and natural gas, has long been regarded as one of Asia’s potential military flashpoints and the escalating tensions in recent years have heightened concerns over potential battles for control.
The Philippines has been the most vocal in expressing alarm at China’s growing assertiveness, which has included an increased Chinese naval presence in the area, and it reacted angrily to the
People’s Daily commentary.
“There is no place in the relations of civilized nations to use such provocative language. We call on China to be a responsible member in the community of nations,” foreign ministry spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
ASEAN has been trying for more than a decade to secure agreement on a legally binding code of conduct on the South China Sea, which China has resisted.
Nevertheless, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said a code of conduct, while not a “magic wand,” would be an important tool in avoiding conßict.
“We need to manage and prevent miscalculations and unintended actions, reactions and (where) we have a huge furor and huge incident on our plate,” he said.
“That is too huge a risk to have, this... sense of anarchy, a sense of lawlessness.”