The planned theme of yesterday’s ASEAN
defence ministers roundtable was military co-operation between countries,
particularly in times of natural disaster, but it was a theme invariably pushed
to the background by other regional developments.
Among
them was what appeared to be a cooling-off period in the dispute between the
Philippines and China over sovereignty in the South China Sea, as well as this
week’s visit by China’s minister of defence, the timing of which raised some
eyebrows.
ASEAN
members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, along with China and
Taiwan, claim portions of the resource-rich body of water.
Last
month, China and the Philippines each sent boats to a disputed reef that both
countries claim.
But
that standoff seems to have turned into a waiting game, based on remarks by the
minister of defence for the Philippines, Voltaire Gazmin.
He said
that as of yesterday afternoon, only two vessels remained around the reef,
which the Philippines calls the Scarborough Shoal.
Gazmin also
told reporters he met with his Chinese counterpart, Lian Guanglie, on Monday at
Guanglie’s hotel.
“It was
agreed that we exercise restraint in our statements and in our actions, and
continue an open dialogue,” he said following the closed-door meeting.
A day
before last night’s meeting between Guanglie and his ASEAN counterparts, China
pledged about $19 million in defence aid to Cambodia as part of a military
agreement signed between the two countries.
The
stated purpose of the meeting was for the Chinese official to explain his
country’s stance on the South China Sea yesterday, but Defence Minister Tea
Banh denied yesterday that Guanglie’s visit was intended to influence the ASEAN
talks.
The
visit, he said, simply “coincided” with the ministers’ meeting.
Separately,
the defence ministers accepted an initiative floated by Prime Minister Hun Sen
to look at how Cambodia successfully assimilated Khmer Rouge guerrillas into
the government in 1998.
The
so-called “win-win” policy put an end to years of civil war.
“Cambodia
is proposing a concept paper on the ASEAN Civil War Free Zone, by using our
experiences in civil war termination to contribute to peace and stability in
the region,” Tea Banh said in opening remarks.
Joseph
Freeman and Vong Sokheng
The
Phnom Penh Post
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