South China Sea Disputes to Dominate ASEAN Meeting

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers join hands for a group photo session during the opening ceremony of the 45th meeting at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh on July 9. (Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/GettyImages)

July 10, 2012
By Alex Johnston
Epoch Times Staff

Disputes in the South China Sea will be the main focal point of a regional meeting between foreign ministers in Southeast Asia, which began Monday and runs until Thursday.

There have been growing tensions in the region over competing territorial claims, principally between China and several other countries. Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, and Taiwan all have claims to part of the South China Sea. China has laid claim to nearly the entire sea and its islands.

The waters are believed to contain considerable reserves of oil and natural gas.

Diplomats at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are looking to draft a maritime Code of Conduct, COC, during meetings in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.

The Philippines and Vietnam have recently accused Beijing of aggressively staking its claims over their territory.

The Philippines and China both dispatched military vessels in a tense standoff over a cluster of reefs known as Scarborough Shoal. China recently requested bids for oil-rich areas in the South China Sea near Vietnam. But Vietnam passed a law stating that the areas are under its jurisdiction, drawing protests from Beijing.

Cambodia on Monday said that the 10 ASEAN members—Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—have agreed on a COC, but China’s assent is needed.

The ASEAN nations “agreed on the key elements among ASEAN only, and from now on we have to start discussing this with China,” Cambodian Secretary of State Kao Kim Hourn said at a news conference. The code, he said, is designed to cover not only ASEAN members but also China.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join the meeting later this week after she called for more developments on the COC.

There should be a mutual “respect for international law, and unimpeded, lawful commerce in the South China Sea,” Clinton said on Sunday in Tokyo, according to a transcript.

These nations “should work collaboratively and diplomatically to resolve their disputes without coercion, without intimidation, without threats, and without conflict,” she added.

Walter Lohman, a researcher with the Heritage Foundation think tank, stressed that Clinton should reiterate that the United States has strong interests in the freedom of navigation, respect for international law, and opposes the use of force in the South China Sea.

He says Clinton should “support the conclusion of an effective code of conduct … but do not rely on ASEAN’s ability to reach one,” due to the relationships in the region.

Many ASEAN members, including Cambodia, have strong bilateral ties with China.