China Stalls Move to Quell Asia Disputes Over Territory [China, with its ally Cambodia, stalled planned resolution of South China Sea dispute]

By JANE PERLEZ 

The New York Times

Published: November 19, 2012 

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — China, with its ally Cambodia, on Monday once again stalled plans by Southeast Asian nations to develop a system for resolving disputes in the South China Sea, the strategic and energy-rich waterway where China is at odds with various countries regarding competing territorial claims.

At a private meeting between China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, and the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Hun Sen, Cambodia’s leader and the host of the meeting here, read a statement that it was the consensus of the group that the issue of the South China Sea would not be “internationalized.”

But representatives of other countries in the organization disputed the Cambodian statement, which was disclosed by participants and later confirmed by Chinese officials. It was the second time in four months that China appears to have influenced Cambodia, a beneficiary of Chinese development and military aid, to put forward its case. In July, the association failed to issue a communiqué at the end of its conference of foreign ministers after Cambodia refused to allow any mention of the South China Sea.

In an interview Tuesday on the sidelines of the Asean meeting in Phnom Penh, the president of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III, said the Philippines objected to the stand by the Cambodian leader. “We don’t think there is a consensus,” Mr. Aquino said.  “We stated that we deserve the right to protect our national interests.” He added: “Not to be flippant about it, if you cross your national borders then it becomes an international situation. And if the solution will come through the international tribunal of the laws of the sea, that makes it another a new entity.”

In essence, Mr. Aquino said,  “Our position has always been that a multilateral problem does not lend itself to a solution on a bilateral basis.”

Mr. Aquino said that four member countries within the 10-member Asean group were involved in territorial disputes with China, making it impossible for the approach advocated by Cambodia, with China’s backing.  “Multilateral problems should have a multilateral solution,” he said.

In an effort to ease tensions, Mr. Aquino said that the Philippines had invited the four countries to come to the Philippines to discuss possible solutions.  

On Tuesday, President Obama, on a tour of Asia, met separately here with both Mr. Wen and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan, but in their public comments the leaders avoided any mention of the South China Sea dispute and ignored reporters’ questions about it. In the meeting with Mr. Wen, the China-bashing rhetoric of the campaign trail went unacknowledged as well, as both pledged cooperation. 

Mr. Obama did mention establishing “clear rules of the road” on trade, without saying that China was violating them, as he had during the campaign, while Mr. Wen spoke of “differences and disagreements between us” without saying what they were.

At the heart of the diplomatic tangle between China and its neighbors is a decade-long effort, supported by the United States, to develop a code of conduct aimed at minimizing the risk of conflict in the waterway.

China’s position is that it will deal with a code of conduct “when the time is right,” and only on the basis of bilateral negotiations rather than multilateral talks. China has consistently said it does not believe that the Southeast Asian group is a proper forum for dealing with the issue.

“I have to say the Asean countries have reached a consensus — have reached a common position — which has been expressed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on behalf of Asean,” Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Chinese delegation, said after the meeting between Mr. Wen and the leaders of the 10 Asean countries.

But the Philippines, an ally of the United States and one of four countries involved in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, immediately protested that it had not agreed to the consensus described by the Cambodian leader. Mr. Aquino wrote a letter to Mr. Hun Sen complaining he had mischaracterized the situation, according to the Philippine foreign secretary, Albert F. Del Rosario.

After a standoff last summer between Chinese and Filipino vessels at the Scarborough Shoal just off the Philippines coast, a compromise was worked out with the help of the United States under which vessels from both sides agreed to leave the area.  The Chinese left behind a net that stretches across the mouth of the lagoon at the shoal, an act intended to show the status quo had changed to their favor. Mr. Aquino said today that the net remained there.

At the same time, Mr. Noda, the Japanese prime minister, criticized the efforts by the Cambodian leader to limit discussions on the South China Sea, saying they could damage peace and stability in the region. Japan is not a member of the Southeast Asian group, but holds formal dialogue sessions with it, and has its own dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea.

In the last several years, China has increased its maritime prowess and its determination to exercise its claims on potential resources in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. A senior Southeast Asian diplomat who attended the meeting with Mr. Hun Sen and spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the discussions also disputed the statement. “Typical half truth,” he said. “We do believe that a code of conduct on the South China Sea should be negotiated only between China and Asean. But that certainly does not mean that other countries do not have interests.”

Peter Baker and Bree Feng contributed reporting.