Bangkok Post
EDITORIAL
It is not at all surprising that the foreign ministers and heads of state of Asean could not come to any agreement over the territorial disputes in the South China Sea at their meeting in Phnom Penh.
The failure to take a stand was basically a reaffirmation of the traditional Asean core value of non-interference. This is the policy which brought international criticism for many years to Asean with regard to its reluctance to address human rights abuses in its member states, particularly in Myanmar.
But there was another and probably much more important factor that encouraged non-action in Phnom Penh. Along the sidelines the meeting became a skirmish in a regional power struggle between two superpowers, China and the United States, and Asean leaders perhaps understandably are unwilling to appear to be taking sides.
Both China and the US sent high-level emissaries to the conference. The US team was headed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She met foreign ministers in an attempt to persuade them to send a clear message to China that the Asean group rejects its increasingly strident maritime claims, but in the end she was disappointed.
Besides the Philippines and Vietnam, which have ongoing maritime disputes with China, Indonesia and Singapore were on board with a statement reflecting a compromise position, one with a non-confrontational tone, but the rest of the group waffled.
Most importantly, the foreign minister of the host country, Hor Namhong, declined to go along with a compromise, saying it was a ''matter of principle'' for Asean not to take sides in bilateral disputes.
The New York Times quoted a diplomat at the summit who requested anonymity as saying ''China bought the chair, simple as that.'' He was referring to China's strong political and economic influence in Cambodia, where Chinese interests are currently sponsoring a building boom. The diplomat pointed to an article on Thursday by China's state news agency, Xinhua, in which Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was quoted as thanking Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for supporting China's ''core interests''.
China wants to deal with the countries involved in the South China Sea disputes individually, and believes that the US is interfering in the region and has no business encouraging Asean to take a stand which would weaken its bargaining power. On June 21, Vietnam's parliament passed a maritime law that reasserted the country's claims to the Spratly and Paracel Islands, which China called a serious violation of its sovereignty.
In a statement, Mrs Clinton justified the US involvement in the South China Sea disputes and said: ''No nation can fail to be concerned by the increase in tensions, the uptick in confrontational rhetoric and disagreement over resource exploitation.'' Mrs Clinton said.
Mrs Clinton is correct in deploring the tensions which have largely been brought on by the increasingly strident maritime claims of China. The most serious incident involved armed vessels from the Philippines and China squaring off over a small body of land called Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The stand-off lasted for two months and at times China appeared ready to mount a major show of force before both sides finally withdrew.
It should also be pointed out, however, that the US is not completely blameless when it comes to the mounting tensions. Washington has made no secret that its so-called ''pivot to Asia'' following the winding down of its two wars in the Middle East is meant to counter China's growing influence in the eastern Pacific. The wisdom of a joint military drill in the South China Sea involving nearly 7,000 US and Philippine forces during the stand-off at Scarborough Shoal is also questionable.
There was no clear winner in last week's skirmish between two superpowers in Phnom Penh and it is probably in the interests of all Asean nations and the world that there not be a winner in this power struggle. Instead both countries should drop the Cold War mentality and begin working together on resolving the maritime disputes and other issues in a way that reflects their strategic and economic interdependence.
5 comments:
i article is well written; howeve, i don't agree that cambodia was bought by china in all of this. in fact cambodia is seen as victim of superpower players. the obvious developments and investments in cambodia was due to someone's political bias, political prejudice, political discrimination toward cambodia, thus the void was filled in by china because cambodia has a open-door policy with investments, developments, etc, etc, you know. cambodia is not bought by anybody, that's their choice if they want to invest and help cambodia develop, etc by filling in the void left out by political bias, prejudice and discrimination. cambodia welcome all to compete in cambodia that will benefit cambodia and raise the standard of living for camobdia and our people land citizens, etc..., you see. china is china, it is not cambodia doing, really.
and what is the fuss with china anyway? cold war mentality? china changed already and so rich and so developed now that it is becoming a second economy in the world. it used to be japan as the second economy in the world, it is now china, no doubt. well, i like america and always think and want the best for america. american will always be the number economy in the world. cambodia also like america. china is more convenient for us though because china has always been our friends and a close neighbor as well. cambodia said before, we do not wait for anyone to come invest in cambodia, we welcome everyone who is interested to come and invest in cambodia in all areas. so far, china show the most willing, that's why you see lot so their investments in cambodia now. well, what are you waiting for america, come to invest and help make a real, lasting difference in cambodia as well. cambodia needs and wants everybody that is good to cambodia to invest and help develop and make a real difference in cambodia once and for all, really. cambodia welcomes america, china,and all other good people out there, really. god bless my country cambodia and all our beautiful khmer people and citizens.
As we the cambodian and cambodian american, cambodian canadian, cambodian african, cambodian korean, cambodian french, we don't care about south china sea...it's china's problam...china knows how to solve it. All we the cambodian cares is boycott Ah HUN SEN'S cambodia's products to condemn his lawlessness.
when we have border problem with both viet and thai, where is everyone. why expect cambodia to help solve the problem with no one want to help us when we have these major problem? ASEAN summit good for what? all full of bia, prejudice and The bigger the nation plus the richer the nation, they show their face off and act like they are more superior than others. all of them treat each other as the competators not as humanitarian ground of compassion whatsoever. it is like money talk, so evil and so nasty in the eyes of the poor.
"The bloc, however, failed to issue a joint communiqué because Cambodia, an ally of China.."
=This is pure bullshit statement! Tell me who was or what ASEAN member was an ally of Cambodia when Thailand invaded Cambodia?
The whole ASEAN forced Cambodia to deal Thailand invasion as bilateral issue! Cambodia was left out in the cold to confront Thailand and the ongoing border conflict still continues to this day because of the fucken bilateral talk! Where was ASEAN when Cambodia needed them most?
Now the table turns and some ASEAN members such Philippine and Vietname want to blame Cambodia for everything because they can't get their way! I say fuck them!
Cambodia was once a victim of Thailand naked aggression and don't force Cambodia to be a victim again by forcing Cambodia to take the blame!
Cambodia was once on China's side, and the chinesed educated madman Pol Pot kill about 2 millions Cambodians. China did nothing. When Cambodia and Thailand had border conflict, ASEAN stepped in to solve the conflict. Where is China? Quess what will happen if Vietnam replace one of Cambodia leader next time... China will do nothing.
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