South China Sea ‘unlikely’ to dominate regional talks

By Yan Shuang
Global Times | 2012-7-9

The South China Sea issue is not likely to dominate regional talks in Cambodia this week, though in the lead-up to the discussions certain countries have been trying to draw international attention to the matter to gain bargaining power, analysts said.

A series of foreign ministers' meetings between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) kick off Monday, with a wide range of issues to be discussed.

Given that the territorial disputes over the South China Sea between China and countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam are simmering, some foreign media outlets have predicted that the issue will be the focus for the talks, which will be attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"The ASEAN members haven't reached consensus on the South China Sea issue. And a majority of countries will not support the Philippines stance considering their friendship with China," said Ji Qiufeng, a professor at the School of International Relations at Nanjing University.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson on Thursday said the South China Sea issue would be discussed in the foreign ministers' meeting and there would be no bilateral meetings between the Philippines and China, the Philippine daily Inquirer reported.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, has made it clear that the forum is not an appropriate place to talk about the issue.

"China believes that the series of meetings are an important platform for boosting mutual trust and cooperation among relevant countries, but they are not a proper occasion to discuss the South China Sea issue," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Weimin at a press conference on July 3.

Ji said that although the Philippines have been trying to seek help from the US and the latter is tacitly offering its support, it is not possible for the US to take sides against China at the forum.

"The US has been talking about Sino-US cooperation, and they won't choose confrontation against China, especially when they're in the midst of a presidential election," said Ji.

The US will emphasize the importance of easing friction over competing claims in the South China Sea during the regional talks, a US government official said Saturday, AFP reported.

"With the slowdown in Europe and some uncertainties over the recovery in the US, it's clear that the role of Asia is central," said the official.

Officials from China and Southeast Asian countries met in Phnom Penh Sunday in preparation for the gatherings, and they underlined their commitment to the continued implementation of a declaration over the South China Sea reached in 2002 between the two sides, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The officials also held informal discussions on how to jointly formulate a code of conduct in South China Sea.

Negotiations over the code of conduct have made some progress but the complexity of the sovereignty dispute has hindered the process as well as the joint exploration of the area, said Chen Gang, a research fellow at the East Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore.

"A code of conduct can be reached through multilateral negotiation but issues related to territory and sovereignty can only be discussed bilaterally," Chen noted.