ASEAN debates the South China Sea
The leaders of the regional group ASEAN are meeting today in Bali. At the top of the agenda is advancing a code of conduct for the South China Sea that can then be negotiated with China. The ASEAN states and China agreed to a general set of principles in 2002 and have been trying to ...
The leaders of the regional group ASEAN are meeting today in Bali. At the top of the agenda is advancing a code of conduct for the South China Sea that can then be negotiated with China. The ASEAN states and China agreed to a general set of principles in 2002 and have been trying to forge a more comprehensive document ever since.
The leaders of the regional group ASEAN are meeting today in Bali. At the top of the agenda is advancing a code of conduct for the South China Sea that can then be negotiated with China. The ASEAN states and China agreed to a general set of principles in 2002 and have been trying to forge a more comprehensive document ever since.
That push has acquired new urgency as maritime tensions have increased. If this report from Bali is accurate, however, there’s significant uncertainty within the group over how to proceed:
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says ASEAN foreign ministers spent much of their meeting Tuesday debating efforts to resolve conflicting claims over reserves of oil and gas in the South China Sea.
Earlier in the day, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged the delegates to finalize a set of guidelines called the Declaration of Conduct between ASEAN and China on this issue. He noted the two sides have been negotiating the guidelines for the past nine years.
Natalegawa says while ASEAN sees the Declaration of Conduct and a planned Code of Conduct as the best way to resolve the dispute, some member states are considering other options. He says some delegates suggested making development in the disputed area a cooperative venture.
At the end of the week, diplomats from the United States, China and the European Union will join the gathering for this year’s regional forum. It’s an open question how united the ASEAN front will be when these players arrive.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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