As soon as it has a firm position on the
issue, Asean expects to begin talks with China on the disputed South China Sea
territory.
"We
are now moving to identify elements of the [regional] code of conduct on the
South China Sea,” said Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa after a
plenary session of the 20th Asean Summit in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.
"Once
we have an Asean position, we will be communicating with China. Hopefully, we
can have good progress on the code of conduct,” said Marty without citing any
time frame to when the code of conduct would be completed.
The
dynamics of the long-disputed territory have changed considerably since last
year, after China agreed on the guidelines of the declaration of the code of
conduct, Marty added.
Diplomats
considered that the move represented significant progress to resolving the
dispute because China was previously unwilling to engage in identifying the
elements of conduct.
Parts
of the South China Sea territory that contain a huge deposit of deepwater oil
and gas, have been claimed by China and several Asean member states: the
Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.
The
Philippines and Vietnam have accused China of imposing its military muscle on
the region, which has witnessed increased naval brinkmanship during the past
few years.
Marty
said Indonesia would maintain its position as a facilitator of resolutions in
the dispute as it had done in the past, and would uphold diplomacy and dialogue
to comply with existing international laws for the resolution.
"The
continued dispute, if it is not well-managed, will destabilise the region,”
said Marty.
"We
see that the diplomacy, negotiations and dialogue based on international law,
and laws of the sea, have become the preferred means of addressing the matter,”
he said.
In
other Summit developments, Asean member countries have stepped up efforts to
consolidate free-trade agreements with the regions’ main trading partners, with
Indonesia being appointed to take the lead in the process.
Trade
Minister Gita Wirjawan said a working group would be set up to discuss the
steps to realise the commitment this month, with the first focus on trade in
goods.
Asean
has agreed to establish a framework for a regional comprehensive economic
partnership that will engage with six countries already sealing free trade
agreements. They include Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New
Zealand.
The
proposed “Asean+6” trade pact has been slated to become the world’s largest
regional economic bloc.
"We
expect that there will be more investment along with the agreement to help us
climb up the value chain, which will significantly boost trade volume,” said
Gita.
Linda
Yulisman
The
Jakarta Post
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