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SEAN foreign ministers appear to be accusing China of “undermining peace” in the South China Sea, as land reclamation continues in the disputed Spratly Islands despite calls not to escalate tensions in the region.

In a press statement made after the ASEAN Ministeral Meeting (AMM) Retreat on Tuesday, “some ministers” expressed concerns about the reclamation in the contested body of water without mentioning China by name, even though ASEAN and China had agreed to negotiate a code of conduct (CoC) for the area last year.

“We discussed the matters relating to the South China Sea and took note of the concerns expressed by some ministers on the land reclamations and activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region,” Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in the statement.

It remains unclear which ASEAN ministers raised the issue, although in response to an inquiry about whether Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi was one of them, ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said she had not specifically said anything, but had “merely wished to use the momentum to move the CoC negotiations forward.”

ASEAN members Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and the Philippines all claim a stake in the South China Sea, even as China continues claiming most of the waters for itself, aggressively building and militarizing artificial
islands.

While Retno did not specifically endorse the concerns raised in Tuesday’s event, Arrmanatha maintained that making a statement was a prerogative of the current chair. “[The statement] was still discussed with and supported by all members,” he said.

ASEAN operates based on consensus and usually refrains from making statements that may stir up controversy, but a chairman’s statement does not necessarily fall under common purview.

The issue came to a head following an exposé by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which acquired photos taken between June and December last year showing China’s almost finished reclamation projects.

At the time, ASEAN and China were in the process of negotiating the CoC framework that was eventually concluded in August last year. The photos showed reefs transformed into islands in the final stages of development as air and naval bases.

China had in December defended its construction on disputed islands as “normal”.

In the first AMM Retreat under Singapore’s chairmanship on Tuesday, the ministers said they welcomed the completed ASEAN-China CoC framework as a start for substantive negotiations toward the conclusion of an effective codex. Balakrishnan said resolution of the South China Sea dispute would not be easy, even with the talks for a CoC underway. “It’s going to be a very complicated negotiation,” he said, as quoted
by AFP.

“Territorial claims are not resolved just because you have a CoC. There will be no shortage of very sensitive issues that will take a lot of innovation and imagination on the part of the diplomats and ultimately an exercise of political will.”