With a code of conduct for the South China Sea nowhere in sight, ASEAN
diplomats said they were mulling a decidedly old-fashioned salve in the
interim: a telephone hotline.
Speaking on the sidelines of the
ASEAN summit, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said ministers had
discussed the idea of a hotline during Saturday’s Foreign Minister meeting.
“What Indonesia is now looking
for, while we are working on the [Code of Conduct], is a commitment on the part
of ASEAN and China to open a hotline of communication. If there were to be an
incident in the future – irrespective of the fact that the COC is not yet in
operation – we can commit to having communication and dialogue.”
First proposed a decade ago, a
binding code governing disputes in the resource-rich body of water has proven
to be a Herculean undertaking for the regional bloc. Tensions have flared up
repeatedly between China, the largest claimant, and the Philippines and
Vietnam, while debate over how to address the issue has led to increasing
acrimony among ASEAN member states.
After leaders failed to issue a
joint communiqué during the July summit for the first time in the bloc’s
45-year history, over conflict regarding the extent to which the territorial
dispute was raised, the COC appeared all but stalled.
Officials this weekend, however,
sought to downplay the lack of progress on the decade-old code, insisting that
all remained equally dedicated to regional stability – with or without the
document in hand.
Cautiously avoiding mention of
the code at yesterday’s official opening ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen
nevertheless stressed that the South China Sea was a topic of concern.
“ASEAN promotes the effective
functioning of existing mechanisms to ensure regional security and peace such
as... the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” he
said.
His statement, focused solely on
the non-binding declaration, reflects a shift from earlier this year, when
Cambodian officials said they hoped a draft code would be finalised under their
chairmanship.
Instead, delegates this weekend
sought to manage expectations, and refused to speculate on when a draft might
be forthcoming.
“People always ask about the
timeline... but it depends on the process. The process is equally as important
as the outcome,” Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Kao Kim Hourn said during a
Saturday press conference, before insisting the document was moving apace.
But yesterday, a ray of hope
appeared with officials saying for the first time that a unified ASEAN called
for formal talks with China on the issue. Prime Minister Hun Sen was expected
to raise the topic of talks on the code with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during
a meeting last night, according to ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwin.
The cause for movement is likely
timed to the visit of foreign leaders; just one day earlier, Surin said the
dispute was “affecting confidence, having some implications on foreign
investment coming in, concern about the safety”.
In a Thursday conference call, US
Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the South China Sea issue
would be one of US President Barack Obama’s key points of discussion in Phnom Penh.
“The leaders will want to discuss
the salient strategic and security issue facing the region... the issue
stemming from the competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.”
Abby Seiff and Cheang Sokha
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