A forum of the Association of South East Asian Nations ended without any
official statement thanks to disagreements over South China Sea territorial
disputes.
MANILA, Philippines, July 16
(UPI) -- A forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ended without an
official statement due to disagreements over South China Sea territorial
disputes.
The forum in Phnom Penh and led
by Cambodia ended in accusations of foot-dragging by some of member states over
how to deal with Chinese territorial claims, especially regarding the
Scarborough Shoal.
China isn't one of ASEAN's 10
members, which are Viet Nam, Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei,
Laos, Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar.
Many members were unhappy about
Cambodia's refusal to mention Scarborough Shoal in a final communique, which
resulted in no final document, the first time in ASEAN's 45 years.
"The chair (Cambodia) has
consistently opposed any mention of the Scarborough Shoal in the joint
communique and announced that a joint communique can't be issued,"
Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said after attending
the forum.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor
Namhong said all ASEAN members were responsible for the failure to issue a
final joint statement, a report by the BBC said.
"I requested that we issue
the joint communique without mention of the South China Sea dispute ... but
some member countries repeatedly insisted to put the issue of the Scarborough
Shoal," Hor said.
"I have told my colleagues
that the meeting of the ASEAN foreign ministers is not a court, a place to give
a verdict about the dispute," Hor said.
Del Rosario warned China's
"creeping imposition of its claim" over the entire South China Sea,
"could further escalate into physical hostilities which no one
wants."
"This puts in greater
jeopardy the remarkable economic dynamism of our region which was made possible
by the relative peace and stability that has prevailed in the past years,"
del Rosario said.
Del Rosaria also sounded a
conciliatory note, saying the disagreement over including a Scarborough Shoal
note didn't signal the breakup of ASEAN, a report by the Philippines's TV5
said.
"I don't think we should
even think that this is the beginning of a tear in the organization," he
said. "I think it just presents a bigger challenge for us to continue to
build on what we stand for -- leadership, centrality and solidarity," del
Rosario said.
The Scarborough Shoal issue is
emblematic of the evolving and increasingly confrontational South China Sea
territorial disputes, mostly involving China.
Scarborough Shoal -- also called
Panatag Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc -- covers less than 60 square miles and has
a highest point of around 10 feet above sea level.
The shoal is more than 400 miles
off the Chinese coast but 150 miles off the coast of Zambales, a province on
the western shore of Luzon Island, the largest and most northern Philippines
island.
Ownership of the shoal, as for
other disputed South China Sea territories, is important because legitimizes a
country's access to natural resources including oil and gas on the seabed and
fishing rights in the area.
Manila and Beijing have been at
loggerheads over the shoal for several months, each claiming the other is
driving the dispute toward a naval confrontation.
Another possible naval flash
point is the Spratly islands and reefs group.
As well as Vietnam and China,
ownership of various Spratly islands and reefs -- some visible only at low tide
-- are disputed by Brunei, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The Spratly dispute has erupted
into open military confrontation on occasions, such as the brief 1988 Johnson
South Reef skirmish between China and Vietnam in which about 70 Vietnamese
military personnel were killed.
Del Rosario reiterated his
country's desire to have territorial conflicts resolved through a U.N. maritime
treaty signed by the Philippines, China and other governments.
China's stance is for the issues
to be resolved bilaterally.
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