PHNOM PENH: US President Barack Obama is set to dive into the tumultuous diplomatic
waters of the South China Sea on Tuesday at a summit in which rival claims to
the strategically vital area have dominated.
Obama is widely expected to
express concerns about the disputes between China and its Southeast Asian
neighbours, which have stoked tensions across the region this year and hampered
efforts to foster economic co-operation.
Obama and Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao are among the leaders of 18 nations in the Cambodian capital of Phnom
Penh for the two-day East Asia Summit.
Repeating a long-held Chinese
position, Wen insisted on Monday that the disputes should not be
"internationalised" and discussed at multilateral events such as the
summit.
China, which claims sovereignty
over virtually all of the sea, prefers to negotiate directly with its
neighbours from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In a meeting on Monday, Obama and
ASEAN leaders agreed to support a regional code of conduct to manage disputes
over claims in the sea, said a joint US-ASEAN communique.
ASEAN members Vietnam, the
Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan, also have claims to parts
of the sea, which is home to some of the world's most important shipping lanes
and believed to be rich in fossil fuels.
The rival claims have for decades
made the sea a powder keg issue in the region. Chinese and Vietnamese forces
engaged in clashes in 1974 and 1988 in which dozens of troops died.
After a long period of relative
calm, tensions have risen over the past two years with the Philippines and
Vietnam expressing concerns that China is becoming increasingly aggressive in
staking its claim.
In one of the most serious
incidents, Philippine and Chinese vessels became locked in a stand-off at a
contested shoal in April.
The tensions have led to some
bruising diplomatic confrontations this year and overshadowed some regional
meetings where the participants typically prefer to focus on improving economic
ties.
At the East Asia Summit, the
first day was dominated by infighting over the issue among the ASEAN bloc.
Cambodia, this year's ASEAN chair
and a close Chinese ally, said the 10 nations had agreed not to
"internationalise" the disputes, thus giving an important diplomatic
victory to China.
But the Philippines quickly
denied that it had agreed, with President Benigno Aquino rebuking Cambodian
Prime Minister Hun Sen during one of the meetings on Monday.
"How can there be a
consensus? A consensus means 100 percent. How can there be a consensus when two
of us are saying we're not with it," Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert
del Rosario told reporters afterwards.
While he did not identify the
other country opposing the agreement, diplomats said it was Vietnam.
The feud echoed unprecedented
infighting at an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh in July, which
ended for the first time in the bloc's 45-year history without a joint
communique.
The Philippines and Vietnam had
wanted the communique to make specific reference to their disputes with China.
But Cambodia blocked the moves.
Despite the tensions, leaders
were expected to make progress on important economic issues on Tuesday.
ASEAN nations are set to
officially launch negotiations for an enormous free trade pact with China,
Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Trade ministers from China, Japan
and South Korea are also likely to hold talks aimed at kick-starting three-way
free trade negotiations.
- AFP/fa
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