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ASEAN, China complete first reading of draft COC as tensions simmer
Efforts to resolve the South China Sea dispute through a dedicated code of conduct are to be discussed during the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, an Indonesian official has said.
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Anti-China protesters raise placards and national flags during a protest in front of a Chinese consular office in the financial district of Manila on April 9. Protesters descended on the consulate to oppose the Asian superpower's growing sway in the Philippines and as tensions rise over Beijing's presence in the disputed South China sea. (AFP/Ted Aljibe)
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dispute between Southeast Asian nations and China is expected to come into focus as Thailand hosts the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting (AMM) in Bangkok this week, with ASEAN and China inching closer to completing the elusive code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.
ASEAN member states and China have just completed a first reading of the draft codex for the disputed body of water, a step forward in a dispute that has been relatively calm but is tensing up again over concerns of Beijing’s growing influence in the region.
Jose Tavares, Indonesia’s point man on ASEAN affairs, hailed the “positive development” in negotiations on the South China Sea dispute after negotiators from ASEAN and China hunkered down in Penang, Malaysia last week to discuss the evolving list of provisions.
The senior Foreign Ministry official said that the results of the Penang talks would be discussed in the upcoming ASEAN-China ministerial meeting slated for Wednesday in the Thai capital.
"This is good progress for the future, hopefully. If the COC is completed, it can greatly help manage behavior in the South China Sea,” Jose said during a press briefing in Jakarta on Friday.
During the AMM in Singapore last year, the partners introduced a “single draft” that underpins all negotiations for the code of conduct, a requirement in the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea that China has been flouting since its adoption.
At the ASEAN Summit in November last year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said negotiations on the COC could be completed in three years.
