Asean lawmakers are considering setting up an advisory group of
high-level parliamentarians to create "new political channels" to
address disputes in the South China Sea.
The proposed body, which would
advise Asean, is included in a draft political resolution being discussed at
the annual meeting of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in
Indonesia this week.
The meeting got underway on the
island of Lombok on Sunday and is scheduled to last until Saturday. It follows
the failure of Asean foreign ministers to adopt a joint statement at their annual
meeting in Phnom Penh in July in the absence of a regional consensus on the
South China Sea.
China has territorial claims in
the South China Sea that compete or overlap with those of Asean members Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The "Resolution on the
Situation in the South China Sea" is among 11 resolutions expected to be
adopted by the Asean lawmakers meeting this week.
According to the draft, AIPA
lawmakers are "deeply concerned" about the "escalation of
conflict among the claimant states arising from the overlapping jurisdictional
and territorial claims in the South China Sea."
It resolves "to consider to
establish an AIPA Eminent Persons Group composed of high-level representatives
from AIPA Member Parliaments to create new political channels for negotiation
and to provide advice to Asean in its efforts to find a durable solution of
disputes in the South China Sea."
It also requests all member
parliaments to "develop preventive diplomacy through dialogues and
political negotiation to avoid the disputes escalating into conflicts among the
parties concerned."
At the same time, it encourages
Asean members and China "to expedite the negotiation and conclusion of a
regional code of conduct."
It also urges "all claimant
states to clarify their claims and to reiterate their full commitment to
peacecul solution of disputes in the South China Sea in accordance with
universally recognised principles of international law including the 1982
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."
The draft resolution does not
mention the failure of foreign ministers to issue their customary joint
communique in July. But it notes "with appreciation" the Six-Point
Principles on the South China Sea that were adopted and released after the meeting
in Phnom Penh.
Senior Asean foreign ministry
officials are expected to discuss the South China Sea issue at a retreat in
Thailand next month ahead an East Asian Summit chaired by Prime Minister Hun
Sen in Phnom Penh in November.
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