Asian territory disputes could trigger war: Panetta

2012-09-16
AFP

China and other Asian countries could end up at war over territorial disputes if governments keep up their "provocative behaviour", US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Sunday.

Speaking to reporters before arriving in Tokyo on a trip to Asia, Panetta appealed for restraint amid mounting tensions over territorial rights in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

"I am concerned that when these countries engage in provocations of one kind or another over these various islands, that it raises the possibility that a misjudgment on one side or the other could result in violence, and could result in conflict," Panetta said, when asked about a clash between Japan and China.

"And that conflict would then have the potential of expanding."

Insight: Asean Front & Center

From left to right, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa joins Kan Pharidh, a permanent representative of Cambodia, and Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to release balloons at the 45th Asean Day ceremony in Jakarta on Aug. 8, 2012. (AFP Photo/ Bay Ismoyo)

A. Lin Neumann | September 07, 2012

Jakarta Globe

It can still seem odd to think about, but Asean really matters these days. For much of its 45-year history, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was an alliance that conjured images of sheer boredom and empty platitudes.

Begun in 1967, as communist armies were nearing victory in Indochina, Asean started as an alliance of right-wing states that were part of a broad US-backed anti-communist front. The five original members — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — were virtually all authoritarian states (the Philippines became a dictatorship in 1972).

The bloc has grown, of course, and new members have been added. There are now three fairly open democracies — Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand — while the rest are still basically authoritarian. But much has been accomplished. Territorial tensions among members states have largely been laid to rest, trade and investment within the bloc have grown markedly and great steps have been taken toward a unified economic community, which is to be in place by 2015.

China to Clinton: No Question of Sovereignty Over South China Sea

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hold a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, September 5, 2012.

06 September 2012
Scott Stearns, VOA Khmer

BEIJING — China says there is no questioning its sovereignty over waters and islands in the South China Sea, some of which are claimed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and the Philippines. But Chinese officials told visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that they are willing to work with Southeast Asian nations to resolve the dispute peacefully.

Secretary Clinton discussed the South China Sea disputes with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi Wednesday.

China has been critical of outside involvement in the dispute, saying foreign governments are trying to divide the region. Speaking to reporters following their talks, Yang repeated China's insistence that this be resolved by the claimants themselves and made clear that China's position is unassailable.

​​The foreign minister says there is plentiful historic and legal evidence for China's sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and adjacent waters. As for disputes to those claims, he says these should be discussed by those directly concerned on the basis of respect for historic facts and international law, to be settled through "direct negotiation and friendly consultation."

Cambodia Says No Strings Attached in Recent Chinese Aid

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, right, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during their meeting in China on Sept. 2. (Associated Press)

September 6, 2012
By Patrick Barta
The Wall Street Journal

China has done a lot to support Cambodia over the years with millions of dollars in aid, loans and investment. But after reports this week that China has pledged another $500 million in soft loans and grants—and publicly thanked Cambodia for its support in Southeast Asia—Cambodian officials want to be sure no one suspects the little country is falling too much under China’s sway.

Cheam Yeap, chairman of the Commission on Economy, Finance, Banking and Audit at the Cambodian National Assembly, said China’s loans have nothing to do with Cambodia’s recent support for China in disputes involving the South China Sea, parts of which are claimed by China and several Southeast Asian states. That backing includes a now-famous episode in July when members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations failed to reach a consensus on how to resolve conflicts in the sea at their latest summit in Phnom Penh, failing even to issue their customary joint communiqué at the end.

Representatives from the Philippines and other nations blamed Cambodia for resisting any agreement that would embarrass China, which has long indicated its desire to negotiate settlements in the South China Sea on a bilateral basis, away from multilateral forums.

The latest loans are just “encouragement from China’s premier Wen Jiabao” Mr. Cheam Yeap said, adding that China doesn’t ask for anything in return. Rather, China just “sees that Cambodia is in need for [money] to develop the country,” he said. “This is not the first time that China has provided concessional loans to Cambodia.”

China, U.S. divided over Syria, sea dispute, but vow goodwill

• Clinton and Yang upbeat despite tensions
• Island disputes create friction
• China paper suggests Washington trying to "sow discord"
• Both sides disagree on Syria, Iran

By Andrew Quinn

BEIJING, Sept 5 (Reuters) - China and the United States were divided on Wednesday over how to end the bloodshed in Syria and defuse tension in the South China Sea and other global troublespots, but stressed hope for steady ties as they navigate political transitions at home.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi vowed goodwill after talks which had been preceded by criticism from Beijing of Clinton's calls for a multilateral solution to the territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas.

Clinton told reporters that such disagreements did not have to hobble cooperation.

"I'm very proud of the strength and resilience that we have built into our relationship," she said after talks with Yang in the cavernous Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Japan tells Hor 5 Hong to go "くそを食べる"

Discordant note: Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (left) chats with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong before the East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh on July 12. REUTERS / KYODO

Japan not happy with Cambodia minister's words

Wednesday, Sep. 5, 2012
Kyodo

Japan has told Cambodia, which holds the rotating ASEAN chairmanship this year, that it is dissatisfied with the chairman's statements after two meetings of the bloc's foreign ministers in July, according to diplomatic sources.

Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba, in a letter to his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, dated July 24, voiced regret that the issue of the abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea was not included in the statement, which was issued after the foreign ministers' meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh on July 12, the sources said.

Genba also took issue with Hor Namhong over the chairman's statement issued following the foreign ministers' meeting of East Asia Summit member countries, held in the Cambodian capital on the same day, saying that territorial disputes in the South China Sea with China and its neighbors were not properly conveyed.

US, China jockey for influence with ASEAN [-The US thanks Indonesia rather than Hun Xen]

Wed, September 05 2012
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up her mission in Jakarta to enhance ties with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and bolster the grouping’s role in the South China Sea spat, China pledged to give Cambodia US$500 million in loans and grants as a token of gratitude for Phnom Penh’s move in accommodating the Asian superpower’s interests in the region.

Clinton concluded her state visit to Indonesia by making a courtesy call on President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono and paying a visit to ASEAN headquarters in South Jakarta.

In her meeting with Yudhoyono, Clinton discussed the South China Sea issue as well as Indonesia’s key role in ASEAN toward producing a peaceful resolution with China regarding the conflicting territorial claims.

“On the latest developments in the South China Sea, Secretary of State Clinton expressed the US’ appreciation for Indonesia’s role, particularly having managed to retain ASEAN unity. Indonesia and the US have agreed to push for a code of conduct within the zone, particularly ahead of the ASEAN and East Asia summits in Phnom Penh in November,” Marty, who accompanied Yudhoyono at the meeting, told a press conference at the Presidential Office on Tuesday.

Cambodia's ASEAN help leads to Chinese aid [-Payout time for Comrade Hun Xen...]

Wednesday, September 5, 2012
By Prak Chan, Reuters

PHNOM PENH -- China has pledged more than US$500 million in soft loans and grants to Cambodia and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao thanked it for helping Beijing maintain good relations with the regional grouping ASEAN, a Cambodian junior minister said.

A summit of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July failed to issue a joint communique for the first time in the group's 45-year history after disagreement over the wording of a section on territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Cambodia, which chairs ASEAN meetings this year, was accused by some countries in the group of stonewalling in support of its ally, China.

The South China Sea has become Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint. China's claim over the huge area has in particular set it against ASEAN members Vietnam and the Philippines.

After the [South China Sea] stick, now comes the Chinese carrot for Hun Xen

Cambodian PM's visit aims to enhance ties with China

Xinhua | 2012-9-3

• [Hun Xen] asked China to consider lending Cambodia between 300 to 500 million US dollars a year 
• Ding Liguo, executive chairman of the board of Delong Holdings Group, told [Hun Xen] that the firm planned to invest 2 billion US dollars in an industrial zone and a steel plant in Cambodia.

The two-day visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to China had brought closer relations and cooperation in politics, economics, trade, investment and health between the two countries, said a Cambodian senior official on Monday.

Hun Sen visited Urumqi of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China on Sept. 1-2 in order to attend the 2nd China- Eurasia Expo.

Speaking to reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport on Monday upon the premier's return from China, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Economy and Finance Aun Porn Moniroth said that during in Urumqi, Prime Minister Hun Sen met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sept. 2.

"The talk was held in a close and deep atmosphere with the spirit of friendship and close cooperation," he said.

In the meeting, Wen pledged to continue helping Cambodia in developing physical infrastructures, which are the key elements for social and economic development, he said.

China pledges to consolidate ties with Cambodia - 洪森同志，吃我的便便

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hand with Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, September 2, 2012. Photo: Xinhua

Xinhua | 2012-9-2

He voiced appreciation for Cambodia ... for its important role in maintaining the overall situation of friendly relations between China and the ASEAN.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday pledged to consolidate China's traditional friendly relations with Cambodia and promote cooperation between the two countries.

The pledge was made by Wen in a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the second China-Eurasia Expo, being held in Urumqi of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China.

"China and Cambodia are intimate neighbors, whose relationship has withstood the test of time and practice," according to Wen.

He said China was ready to consolidate their friendly ties and deepen cooperation in such areas as transportation infrastructure, agriculture and health.

Chinese leader thanks Cambodia for role in sea row

September 03, 2012
AP

BEIJING – China’s premier has thanked Cambodia for its support in a Southeast Asian regional bloc amid tensions between Beijing and several nations over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The official Xinhua news agency said Wen Jiabao told Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in a meeting yesterday that China will promote closer cooperation with Cambodia.

In mid-July, foreign ministers of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) failed to issue a joint statement after their annual meeting in Phnom Penh when host Cambodia rejected a proposal by the Philippines and Vietnam to mention their territorial disputes with China in the document.

Xinhua said Wen thanked Cambodia for its “important role in maintaining the overall situation of friendly relations between China and the ASEAN.”

Sea row set aside as China, ASEAN seek trade boost

29 August 2012
By Michelle Fitzpatrick (AFP)

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — China and Southeast Asian nations pledged Wednesday to strive for closer economic ties, setting aside regional tensions over a territorial row in the resource-rich South China Sea.

Trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) jumped to over $200 billion in the first seven months of 2012, up nine percent year-on-year, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said during a meeting with regional economic ministers in the Cambodian tourist hub of Siem Reap.

The business relationship between ASEAN and China was "particularly important" amid global economic gloom, he said, adding that both sides have "a solid basis for cooperation" and "bright prospects".

Asean and China: navigating turbulent waters ahead

The USS Milius, a guided missile destroyer, docks in Manila on August 18 amid rising tensions in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China.

Singapore August 25, 2012
Yang Razali Kassim
RSIS

In this year, the 45th anniversary of Asean, Indonesia's foreign minister Marty Natalegawa expressed optimism that a regional code of conduct to govern behaviour in the South China Sea would be ready by year's end.

In so doing, he signalled Asean's shift to a new and more active phase to resolve the territorial disputes in the South China Sea by pushing for an early adoption of the long-stalled Code of Conduct (COC). Dr Natalegawa's confidence followed his success in securing an Asean consensus on a six-point statement of principles on the South China Sea in late July, after it failed to issue a joint communique at the group's annual meeting in Phnom Penh.

The statement has papered over the rift within Asean between members who are disputants in the South China Sea, and the Asean chair, who refused to seek a compromise position, resulting in the non-issuance of a joint communique for the first time in Asean's 45 year history. Cambodia will need to focus on repairing the fissures in Asean so that it can host a credible summit in November.

By shifting gear towards an early COC, Asean is also repairing the rift over the territorial disputes between some of its members and China, the region's emergent power. This has prompted a more cooperative posture on Beijing's part. China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi, on a visit to Jakarta on August 10, pledged to build mutual trust towards the eventual adoption of the COC.

Chair not to blame for communique failure [-More undiplomatic denial from Sin Serey, the Cambodian ambassador in S'pore]

August 30, 2012
The Nation
Opinion

I wish to make some clarifications to the article published in The Nation on August 25 under the title "Asean and China: Navigating Turbulent Waters Ahead" by Yang Razali Kassim.

When reading this article, one may wonder how ignorant and unscholarly this so-called "senior fellow" at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) is. For sure he may have been doing either sloppy work or he has a particular political goal. But it is sad for someone with the position of "senior fellow" to have written such an article without having the real knowledge and information on Asean, both collectively and individually.

First, it is ignorant to say the "Asean chair, who refused to seek a compromise position, resulting in the non-issuance of a joint communiqué". On the contrary, it was the Asean chair that had attempted from July 9 to 13 to seek a political compromise on the language related to the South China Sea in the joint communiqué. Cambodia, as chair of Asean, wanted to have a compromise formula for the South China Sea. Cambodia had circulated a paper and written explanations. But what should we do when two members of Asean put national and bilateral interests above Asean's interest? The two Asean member-states decided to stick to their positions, and one of them even stated it was "non-negotiable". Who should have been held responsible for the non-issuance of the joint communiqué? Cambodia's position was to observe Asean practice when there is no consensus on a particular issue.

Cambodia names new envoy after Asean gaffe [-The Philippines made sure Hos Sereythonh left Manila in disgrace]

By Sara Fabunan | August 19, 2012
Manila Standard Today

The Cambodian government has appointed Foreign Affairs undersecretary Tout Panha as the new ambassador to the Philippines, replacing Hos Serathon, who struck a raw nerve with his remark that the Philippines and Vietnam were playing “dirty politics” on the South China Sea issue.

In a letter to a major daily, Sereython accused Manila and Hanoi of stalling last month’s Asean foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh by pushing for an “inflexible and non-negotiable” position on territorial disputes with China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

After the story came out, Sereython was summoned by the Foreign Affairs to explain his remark, but the Cambodian envoy did not appear, pleading illness.

On July 30, after receiving a note verbale from the DFA, Sereython and his family left for Cambodia. He was sent off at the airport by Cambodian ministry officials and was escorted by airport police instead of the usual protocol officers.

New Ambassador Appointed To Philippines After Row

Cambodia has nominated a new ambassador to the Philippines, following a diplomatic row over the failed Asean security meeting in July and Cambodia’s positions on the South China Sea.

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer

18 August 2012

PHNOM PENH - Cambodia has nominated a new ambassador to the Philippines, following a diplomatic row over the failed Asean security meeting in July and Cambodia’s positions on the South China Sea.

The former ambassador, Hos Sreythoun, was recalled to Cambodia Aug. 6, despite calls from the Philippines government to answer for statements he made in the media criticizing the Philippines for helping derail the Asean meeting.

Cambodia hosted the security meeting last month, in its role as rotating president of Asean, but the region’s ministers failed to agree on a code of conduct for the South China Sea or even to deliver a joint communique on their meeting, a first in 45 years.

Envoy leaves quietly

August 18, 2012
By Eric B. Apolonio
Manila Standard Today

Controversial Cambodian Ambassador to the Philippines Hos Sereythonh left Manila quietly with his family on board a Philippine Airlines flight to Ho Chi Minh City at 1:10 p.m. on Friday.

He said he hoped to be back in the Philippines with his family for a vacation.

“I love the Philippines and hope to be back for a vacation with my family”, he said.

He refused to answer questions over his non- appearance in the Department of Foreign Affairs after he was summoned regarding his letter published in a Manila newspaper last month accusing the Philippines and Vietnam of playing “dirty politics” in their territorial row with China during the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phom Penh.

Pottymouth diplomat left the Philippine

Cambodian Ambassador Hos Sereythonh waves to photographers at the NAIA before flying out of Manila yesterday. The envoy was recalled by Phnom Penh following published comments he made on the West Philippine Sea dispute. RUDY SANTOS

Cambodian envoy leaves Phl

August 18, 2012
By Pia Lee-Brago
The Philippine Star

The Rasmei Kampuchea Daily, Cambodia’s largest daily newspaper, said local political analysts believe that the ambassador’s early return could be a move by Cambodia to ease tensions between the two Southeast Asian countries.

MANILA, Philippines - Cambodian Ambassador Hos Sereythonh left Manila yesterday, cutting short his tour of duty ahead of schedule after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested about his comments on the West Philippine Sea dispute.

Hos, his wife, daughter and granddaughter boarded a Philippine Airlines flight to Vietnam at 1 p.m. and were seen off by Cambodian embassy Second Secretary Tan Chandaravuth.

Hos never showed up at the DFA to respond to its summons.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said Hos was summoned to appear at the DFA on July 30 but the envoy begged off, citing health reasons. The next day, Tan arrived at the DFA and received the DFA’s note verbale containing the protest over allegations Hos made in his letter to STAR editor-in-chief Ana Marie Pamintuan.

Cambodia names new envoy to Philippines [... to replace the un-diplomatic diplomat Hos Sereythonh]

Friday, 17 August 2012
Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodia has a new ambassador to the Philippines.

A week after former envoy Hos Sereythonh was recalled amid a firestorm over comments made in a Philippine newspaper, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has tapped veteran diplomat Tuot Panha for the post, ministry spokesman Koy Kuong confirmed yesterday.

On July 9, following a contentious ASEAN Foreign Ministers summit in Phnom Penh in which backroom bickering over the South China Sea prevented the signing of a joint communiqué – a first in 45 years of such meetings – Sereythonh accused a Filipino diplomat of playing “dirty politics” in an op-ed piece that ran in The Philippine Star.

The former ambassador also took the governments of the Philippines and Vietnam – a fellow claimant to areas of the sea claimed by China – to task, saying they had wanted to “sabatoge and hijack” the joint communiqué by insisting references to the dispute be part of the language.

ASEAN in crisis: Divided we stagger [-Nobody trust Cambodia, the ASEAN chairman, to resolve this crisis?]

Can Indonesia heal the deepening rifts in South-East Asia?

Aug 18th 2012

The Economist

JAKARTA, PHNOM PENH AND SINGAPORE

FOR decades the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has led a largely blameless existence, untroubled by the glare of publicity as it gently sought to bring coherence to a region of enormous political and economic differences. Not for ASEAN the highs and calamitous lows of, for example, the European Union. All that has now suddenly changed. On its 45th birthday newspapers and blogs are at last paying ASEAN plenty of attention, though marked more by despair than praise. Some even question its very survival.

The cause of the furore is the widening division in the ten-member grouping over China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea. The division was laid bare publicly at a meeting last month of ASEAN foreign ministers in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. For the first time in its history ASEAN failed to issue a joint communiqué. Its members could not agree on what to say about China. Broadly, those members with claims in the South China Sea themselves—Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, supported by Singapore and Thailand—want ASEAN to register serious concerns over what they see as China’s belligerent actions to enforce its claims in the waters of the South China Sea and over the Spratly, Paracel and other islands and atolls. However, non-claimants, mainly Cambodia supported by Laos and perhaps Myanmar, are loth to alienate China. They go along with China’s insistence on dealing with the issue with each country in turn. This year Cambodia holds the rotating chair of ASEAN.

Right after the Phnom Penh fiasco, Indonesia’s foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, in a vigorous exercise in diplomacy, tried hard to paper over the cracks. Since then, however, there has been no let-up in the unASEAN-like public rowing. Last week the Philippine government sent the Cambodian ambassador packing. He had accused the Philippines and Vietnam of playing “dirty politics” in their push to put the South China Sea on ASEAN’s agenda. The regional press is full of articles and letters lambasting Cambodia’s stance.