Dual-track approach good in South China Sea

This approach, namely direct negotiations between disputing parties and joint efforts to maintain peace and stability, is based on a consensus between China and Asean. 

Wang’s remarks, made in Singapore last week ahead of the regional security talks in Kuala Lumpur, drove home the message that the disputes should be directly resolved between China and claimant parties through peaceful negotiations. He warned that any move to enlist support from outside forces or deviate from the disputes themselves would be counterproductive.

The focus of the South China Sea issue, as Wang pointed out, is the territorial disputes triggered by the illegal occupation of the islands and reefs that belong to China’s Nansha Islands. But countries such as the Philippines and the United States have questioned China’s nine-dash line, in an attempt to divert attention away from the disputes.

Raising the issue of the nine-dash line, which was promulgated by China in the 1940s and upheld by successive Chinese governments since, will merely heighten confrontation, the government said.

Also, calls for China to halt their island-building and reclamation activities are unrealistic, and as Wang noted, “it will not work in practice”.

China and Asean have the political will and confidence to push for negotiations among the parties directly concerned in the disputes.

Since 2013, the two have held rounds of consultation in relation to a Code of Conduct in order to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

During the 9th China-Asean senior officials’ meeting in Tianjin a few days ago, diplomats agreed to set up two hotline platforms between China and Asean countries. These will focus on maritime search-and-rescue operations in response to maritime emergencies, and are an encouraging sign that cooperation outweighs confrontation in the region.

Confrontation will only disrupt the Code of Conduct negotiations, and meddling by outsiders, such as the United States, will further complicate the situation and poison the atmosphere for peaceful negotiations, the government says.

Parties that have a stake in peace and stability in the South China Sea must refrain from provocative moves and cultivate an atmosphere in which a Code of Conduct can be drawn up.