PHNOM PENH, July 19 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian states are working to craft
a joint ASEAN statement over the South China Sea issue on Thursday, Cambodia's
foreign minister said, in an apparent effort to repair discord that led to an
unprecedented failure to issue a communique after a regional summit last week.
The foreign ministers of
Indonesia and chair country Cambodia said the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) said they hope to agree on "a number of issues" among
all 10 ASEAN member states imminently after failing to do so for the only time
in its 45-year history.
"We, ASEAN foreign
ministers, agreed in principle on a number of issues over the South China Sea
issue," Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told a brief news
conference, without giving details.
"I hope that by tomorrow
morning, we will receive approval confirmation from all ASEAN foreign ministers
in order to announce these points."
The disagreement has exposed how
deeply ASEAN member states have been polarised by China's rapidly expanding
economic influence in the region.
The announcement came after
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa visited Cambodia on Thursday as part
of his whistle-stop Southeast Asian tour aimed at rescuing the group's tattered
image.
Natalegawa said the key points of
the statement had been outlined and the "basic positions" could be
announced imminently if the other states were to approve.
"If a consensus is confirmed
in the next few hours, in the next few moments, then perhaps, the chairman
would be in a position to formally announce those basic ASEAN positions,"
he said, without elaborating.
Bickering over how to address the
increasingly assertive role of China -- an ally of several ASEAN states -- in
the strategic waters of the South China Sea has placed the issue squarely as
Southeast Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint.
China has territorial claims over
a huge area covering waters that Vietnam and the Philippines say they also have
sovereignty over. All three countries are eager to tap possibly huge offshore
oil reserves.
On Thursday, China's state-run
news agency Xinhua said a fishing fleet of 30 boats, including a 3,000-tonne lead
boat, arrived at what China calls the Zhubi Reef in the Spratly Islands for
fishing on Wednesday, almost a week after leaving port in south China's Hainan
province.
The reef is claimed by Taiwan,
the Philippines and Vietnam.
"Although Chinese fishermen
have fished in the South China Sea for centuries, the size of the fishing fleet
makes it a rarity," Xinhua said.
ASEAN included Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
In 2002, ASEAN and China adopted
an informal code of conduct in the South China Sea to avoid conflict and ease
tensions. Last week they indicated efforts to work on a formal code, although
no firm commitments were made.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton attended last week's summit and called on all parties, including China,
to make clear exactly what their claims were in the South China Sea and open
multilateral talks, something likely to rile Beijing, the resident superpower
that a bilateral approach.
The United States insists it is
neutral on the issue, but having recently signed military cooperation
agreements with claimant states Vietnam and the Philippines, China has become
increasingly wary of its intentions.
(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing
by Ed Lane)
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