Brighter prospects in South China Sea
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CHINA HAS indicated that it wants a positive conclusion of negotiations over a code of conduct in the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangket-keow said yesterday.
Sihasak discussed the issue with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin in a meeting of senior officials from China and Asean here on Wednesday.
While the situation in the South China Sea has improved since China’s removal of an oil rig from the disputed area, there remains no guarantee that similar incidents will not happen again in other disputed locations.
Asean proposes having a code of conduct for good practice in the South China Sea, where China has territorial disputes with three Asean members – Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Asean and China have had the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea since 2002, but it is not legally binding.
The regional grouping’s goal has been to have a legally binding treaty to control the behaviour of states in the disputed waters.
Beijing, on the other hand, has wanted to see full implementation of the DOC before the formal drawing up of a code of conduct.
However, despite the existence of the DOC, the situation in the South China Sea has not improved to any significant extent, and has sometimes even worsened.
“Why don’t we find some measures to prevent incidents occurring and to reduce tension,” Sihasak said, adding that the idea of having hotline communication between Asean members and China was intensively discussed at Wednesday’s meeting.
China agreed that there was a need to have some mutually acceptable measures in place to prevent a recurrence of incidents and reduce tension, and said that there should therefore be an early conclusion to negotiations over a code of conduct.
Sihasak, who is acting foreign minister, will discuss the matter again with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at an Asean-China ministerial meeting here tomorrow.
Thailand is currently the coordinator between Asean and China.
Sihasak will also talk to Wang about many other issues with a view to forging further cooperation with China as a strategic partner of Asean.
China wants to focus the relationship with Asean on issues relating to climate change, infrastructure development and a good neighbourhood, he said.
In this connection, China has proposed having a bilateral treaty of amity with Asean, but the regional grouping is still reluctant since it already has a foundation treaty of amity and cooperation in Southeast Asia, to which China has already signed up.
“If Asean has another bilateral treaty with China, other countries might want to have their own version of treaties with Asean too, and this might be difficult for us,” he explained.
China has suggested a study group to explore the possibility of having a bilateral treaty with Asean, Sihasak added.
In order to have a broader role in the region, China also wants to develop a Thai proposal for a conference on sustainable development in the Mekong region, he said.
Beijing is looking for a China-Mekong cooperation framework, similar to what Japan, South Korea and the United States have with countries in the Mekong basin.
China in fact already has a cooperation vehicle with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam under the Greater Mekong Sub-region initiative, for infrastructure development with the Asian Development Bank’s facilitation.
