China, Japan, Korea, ASEAN to protect seas

China, Japan, Korea, ASEAN to protect seas

M.Jegathesan, Agence France-Presse, Putrajaya, Malaysia

China, Japan and the two Koreas met with eight ASEAN countries in Malaysia on Friday to adopt a common plan to protect East Asia's overexploited and polluted seas, despite overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

Hayao Hora, Japan's vice-minister for transport and international affairs described the adoption of the "Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia" as an epoch- making event.

The strategy is the product of research launched at a meeting in Dalian, China, in July 2000, and seeks to coordinate responses to the growing threat to the marine environment.

The seas in question are bordered by the countries involved in the project -- China, North and South Korea, Japan, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members The Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Environment ministers and officials from the 12 countries inked the plan in Malaysia's new administrative capital near Kuala Lumpur.

The strategy calls for the countries to "adopt a shared vision of the seas of East Asia" and take concrete steps to protect them, while offering a set of guidelines to ensure sustainable use of coastal and marine resources and ecologically-sound economic activities.

Law Hieng Ding, Malaysia's minister of science, technology and the environment, said with the adoption of the strategy the East Asian region now had a common cooperative platform to address problems.

Haiqing Li, director-general of China's state oceanic administration, said the region needed to redouble its efforts to protect its seas.

China would like the proposals to be institutionalized, otherwise the strategy "would only be on paper", he said.

The strategy imposes no new legal obligations on the participating countries.

Asked if the overlapping claims of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea hinder joint action, Haiqing said China was prepared to cooperate with all the claimants.

Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, China and Taiwan all claim the Spratly Islands, a potentially oil-rich chain of islands.

In November last year, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a treaty with China hoping to prevent an escalation of tensions over the Spratlys.

Cielito Habito, an environmental expert from the Philippines told AFP there were "a lot of hurdles" in the way of achieving cooperation.

"We know in the back of our minds, there are these political undertones and territorial disputes," he said.