Spratlys hangs over ASEAN-China summit
Spratlys hangs over ASEAN-China summit
By Mynardo Macaraig
MANILA (AFP): Simmering tensions in the Spratly islands in the
South China Sea are expected to dominate at an informal summit
here of Southeast Asian leaders with their counterparts from
China, Japan and South Korea.
Host Philippines has made the dispute over the islands a key
issue of the summit through its campaign to get claimant
countries to agree to a "code of conduct" aimed at avoiding
conflict in the chain of islands.
The Spratlys, which are believed to sit on vast mineral
resources, has been an area of high tension in recent months with
aggressive moves by some claimants to enforce their territorial
sovereignty.
Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam
all claim all or part of the archipelago, and all but Brunei have
troops posted in the area.
The potential for conflict was underscored by an incident in
October when Vietnamese troops fired on a Philippine
reconnaissance plane flying over a Vietnamese-occupied island.
Even before that, the Philippines had already filed several
protests against Malaysia and China for allegedly expanding
structures they erected on certain Spratly reefs.
China in turn, protested against Philippine ships chasing
Chinese fishing boats in the disputed area during which at least
one vessel was sunk.
The members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) which includes Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and
Vietnam as well as Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore
and Thailand, have already agreed to a declaration in 1992 to
refrain from actions that could heighten conflict in the
Spratlys.
But Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon admits such an
accord will be meaningless without the participation of China,
the regional giant which claims huge portions of the South China
Sea.
China, Vietnam and Taiwan also claim the Paracel islands,
another South China Sea chain.
"A code of conduct is stronger in terms of moral suasion than
a declaration," Siazon explained.
"China said that regarding the 1992 ASEAN declaration, they
were not really a party to it," he said, whereas a code of
conduct which could contain an element that prohibits new action
such as setting up a new presence in new areas.
"If China accedes to that, then the moral force would be
stronger," Siazon said.
In the run-up to the summit, various moves have already been
made to accommodate China.
Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja said the draft code has been
revised so that it now says that "the parties concerned shall
refrain from taking action that establishes presence" in
unoccupied reefs, shoals, islands and other rock formations in
the area.
The revision substitutes the words "taking action" to the
original wording of "more presence," Baja said.
Earlier this month, China also reportedly made threats against
the Philippines to pull out two Philippine Navy ships that were
stranded on reefs in the South China Sea.
In an apparent gesture to China, Siazon said they would
withdraw a ship from Scarborough shoal, off the western
Philippine coast before Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji arrives next
week.
Siazon said the code itself has not yet been finalized but
added "we're very near."
He admitted the main impediment is the scope of the area to be
covered by the code.
"We don't know if our diplomats will be able to nuance that
and have it accepted by the (major) parties," he said.
Aside from China, two other claimants -- Vietnam and
Malaysia-- are saying their ownership to parts of the Spratlys
are not in dispute and they want the draft code to contain a
compromise phrase to show its coverage would be limited to
"disputed areas", Baja said.
Siazon says the code would be a start from which claimant
countries can reach formal agreements on cooperation on fisheries
and drug smuggling.