JAKARTA (Reuters) - China's plan to board and search ships that
illegally enter what Beijing considers its territory in the disputed South
China Sea is a very serious turn of events, the head of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Friday.
"My reaction is (this is)
certainly an escalation of the tension that has already been building. And it
is a very serious turn of events," ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan
told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"It is extremely important
to exercise restraint and to try to approach this development with a level head
and be open to listen to concerns of all parties, all sides," he said.
The South China Sea is Asia's
biggest potential military trouble spot with several Asian countries claiming
sovereignty over waters believed to be rich in oil and gas.
China claims virtually the entire
sea. The Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia claim various parts.
The shortest route between the
Pacific and Indian Oceans, the South China Sea has some of the world's busiest
shipping lanes. More than half the globe's oil tanker traffic passes through
it.
New rules, which come into effect
on January 1, will allow police in the southern Chinese province of Hainan to
board and seize control of foreign ships which "illegally enter"
Chinese waters and order them to change course or stop sailing, the official
China Daily reported.
"It certainly has increased
a level of concern and a level of great anxiety among all parties, particularly
parties that would need the access, the passage and the freedom to go
through," said Surin, speaking from Thailand.
"The problem is that you can
stake the claim, you can initiate measures and policies but there is that
potential of misunderstanding, miscalculation that could lead to major tension
and major incidents," he said.
The move, if mishandled, could
undermine confidence in East Asia as a locomotive of global economic growth, he
said, adding that whether or not it was legal depended on the positions of the
parties involved.
Matthew Bigg
Reuters - http://www.chicagotribune.com
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