Apr 3, 2012
DPA
DPA
Phnom Penh – The 10 members of the Association of
South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) remained divided Tuesday over how best
to deal with a long-running dispute with Beijing over parts of the South
China Sea.
ASEAN is formulating a legally binding code of conduct between itself
and China that would regulate states’ behaviour in an area that has
become increasingly tense in recent years.
China lays an all-encompassing claim to the South China Sea, which
spans a vital shipping lane and is believed to be rich in resources. The
Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei – all ASEAN members – also
claim overlapping parts of the area.
The dispute is one of the key issues on the agenda at the two-day meeting of the ASEAN leaders under way in Phnom Penh.
‘The big disagreement this morning was the announcement by the
(ASEAN) secretary general that China might be invited to be part of the
issue on the fundamentals as well as in the drafting of the (code of
conduct),’ Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told
journalists Tuesday.
‘We take the position that this (discussion) should be internal
within ASEAN,’ he said, adding that for ASEAN to do otherwise ‘is
inconsistent with our pursuit for centrality.’
‘We’re happy to invite China, but this should be done after the
approval of the (code of conduct by ASEAN states),’ he said. ‘We should
be the masters of our own destiny.’
Del Rosario said ASEAN chair Cambodia favoured bringing in Beijing at an early stage.
On Monday China’s President Hu Jintao completed a state visit to
Cambodia ahead of the start of the summit in a move some analysts said
was designed to pressure Cambodia to take Beijing’s concerns into
account, not least its preference to deal with other claimants on a
one-to-one basis rather than with ASEAN as a bloc.
The ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The summit is
scheduled to conclude Wednesday.
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