President Benigno S. Aquino III has already made known that his summit agenda includes “maritime security and the West Philippine Sea.”
PHNOM PENH, APRIL 1 (PIA) -- When leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) begin flying in on April 2 for their annual summit, China’s President Hu Jintao would have already left for Beijing after a four-day visit.
The timing of Hu’s visit to Phnom Penh has sparked speculation here on his purpose for meeting Cambodia’s leaders ahead of the 20th ASEAN Summit – the second to be hosted by the Kingdom since it became a member of the 10-nation regional organization which was founded in 1967.
In the March 30 issue of the English-language tabloid, The Phnom Penh Post, its headline story said: “The timing of Hu’s visit has raised suspicion Beijing may pressure Cambodia to curb discussions at the (ASEAN) leader’s summit on the vexed question of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).”
It even quotes an unnamed Philippine foreign ministry official as saying that “they are frustrated over Chinese efforts to block discussion of the issue within ASEAN but insist on raising the matter in Phnom Penh, even though Cambodia has declared it off the agenda.”
The state-owned Xinhua news agency however reported that Hu was in Phnom Penh to honor an invitation by King Norodom Sihamoni who assumed the throne after his father, Norodom, abdicated in 2004.
The Chinese leader, the first to visit Phnom Penh since 2000, had flown in from New Delhi, India where he attended the meeting of leaders of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) which groups the world’s top emerging economies. He had began his Asian sojourn in Seoul last March 25 to attend the Nuclear Security Summit.
President Benigno S. Aquino III has already made known that his summit agenda includes “maritime security and the West Philippine Sea.”
He is expected to raise the issue during the Summit retreat of the ASEAN Leaders on April 4 if it is not tabled for discussion in the summit proper.
Foreign Assistant Secretary Teresita Barsana told a news conference in Manila that Cambodia was not “discouraging discussion on the issue” and was “encouraging the creation, the formulation of the Code of Conduct in relation to the implementation of the declaration of the Conduct of the State Parties in the South China Sea, because they would like to see it formulated during their chairmanship.”
The disputed, resource-rich, Spratlys chain of islands is claimed by the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.
In recent months, Manila and Beijing have exchanged barbs over the Spratlys, particularly over oil exploration activities by the Philippines.
Manila recently announced that it plans to build a ferry pier in Kalayaan, its largest island in the Spratlys, despite protests by Beijing, pointing out that it is “an obligation of the government for the Filipinos living in the islands of the municipality.”
In the run-up to the Summit, preliminary meetings held so far by ASEAN senior officials include discussions on the Regional Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and the proposed ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation.
While it is clear that the outcome of the April 1 by-elections in Myanmar will overshadow all other concerns on the ASEAN Leaders’ table, it still remains to be seen whether the long-standing issue of the West Philippine Sea will be mentioned, it at all, in the Summit declaration.
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