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Breakthrough needed on S. China Sea talks: ASEAN

ASEAN countries will add another forum of talks to speed up the process to create guidelines in the dispute over competing claims in the South China Sea after nine years of working group level talks failed to create significant results

The Jakarta Post
Mon, January 17, 2011

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Breakthrough needed on  S. China Sea talks: ASEAN

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SEAN countries will add another forum of talks to speed up the process to create guidelines in the dispute over competing claims in the South China Sea after nine years of working group level talks failed to create significant results.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said after chairing a retreat meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers here Sunday that the grouping needed to find another way to move forward the stalled South China Sea issue by engaging senior officials in the working group discussions and directly talks about the code of conduct.

“We discussed this issue in great detail, reinforcing ASEAN’s common position as reflected in the declaration of code of conduct on the South China Sea issue together with China, and reinforcing that this is an issue that
must progress in the immediate future,” he said.

Marty said the discussion on the guidelines should not hamper the willingness to create a peaceful region.

“We have to see the big picture, so a breakthrough is necessary,” he said.

The working group has discussed the guidelines for the implementation of a declaration of code of conduct in the South China Sea since 2002.

The guidelines are supposed to be used as a basis for the code of conduct.

But several sticking points remain — including whether the guidelines are to be used as a point of settlement for any conflict or just a mere declaration without a legally binding impact — hampering the progress of the two parties in concluding negotiations.

Marty, however, did not comment on other alternatives to the issue, but acknowledged that the South China Sea issue was a major problem for the region and the world, with four ASEAN countries, China and the US embroiled.

China has been at loggerheads with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei over the control of the Spratly and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for decades.

The Obama administration is exploiting the issue to foster divisions in ASEAN and undermine China’s growing regional influence.

A third of the world’s maritime trade, including vital energy supplies for China and Japan, pass through the South China Sea.

Of China’s 39 sea lanes, 21 pass through the region, accounting for 60 percent of Chinese foreign trade.

Also, 60 percent of ships passing through the neighboring Strait of Malacca are Chinese, carrying 80 percent of China’s imported oil from the Middle East and Africa.

China is well aware of the Pentagon’s strategy of controlling key naval “choke points” as a means of depriving a potential enemy of vital supplies.

China has begun to beef up its own navy to protect key trade routes. It has a submarine base on Hainan Island, adjacent to the South China Sea, where it houses its ballistic missile submarines — a major component of its nuclear arsenal.

China’s first aircraft carrier, which is now under construction, will reportedly be deployed as part of its South China Sea fleet.

The sensitivity of the area was highlighted in March last year when a flotilla of small Chinese vessels confronted the US naval spy ship Impeccable, which was stationed near Hainan Island, monitoring Chinese submarines and mapping the sea floor. — JP

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