The Cambodia Daily
November 21, 2012
Asean’s position on maritime disputes in the South China Sea
fractured further yesterday as the Philippines identified Vietnam as the
second country that had contested a claim by Cambodia that the regional
bloc had reached consensus to not internationalize the issue.
Pham Binh Minh, the Vietnamese foreign minister, would not directly
confirm Hanoi’s position, but he said the maritime dispute that pits
four Asean countries—the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and
Brunei—against China was already of international interest, as there are
concerns over freedom of navigation and maintaining stability in the
region.
“One is the territory dispute, the other dimension is that peace and
stability in the region would be affected if anything happens in the
South China Sea, and the third dimension is the sea lanes, maritime
navigation,” Mr. Minh said.
“If you look at that, you can see it’s itself an international issue.”
Speaking to reporters on Sunday at the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh,
Kao Kim Hourn, secretary of state at the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, claimed that regional leaders had agreed that the sea issue
would only be addressed through the so-called Asean-China mechanism.
However, Philippine President Benigno Aquino quickly denied that
claim the following day, saying there was no consensus on the issue as
the Philippines, as well as one other Asean country, which he did not
name, believed the sea dispute was an international issue.
“In order to gain a consensus, you’re talking about a 100 percent
agreement. We take the position that we did not agree so there is no
consensus,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario reiterated
yesterday.
“And as a matter of fact, if you talk to Vietnam, they also did not
agree,” Mr. Del Rosario said. “Vietnam is undertaking its own initiative
to protest the understanding that there was a consensus,” he added.
At the close of the East Asia Summit yesterday—which was attended by
the 10 Asean member states, as well as the heads of state of the U.S.,
Japan, China, India, New Zealand, South Korea and Australia—Mr. Del
Rosario and Fu Ying, the Chinese vice foreign minister, held
simultaneous press conferences meters away from each other in the main
lobby of the Peace Palace.
Mr. Del Rosario repeated the Philippines’ position that it has an
inherent right to use whatever channels or forums available to protect
its national interests, and that not internationalizing South China Sea
disputes was really an “expression of an idea” during Sunday’s meeting,
not a consensus.
“I can’t explain what Cambodia has done or what it was thinking when
it did what it did,” Mr. Del Rosario said of the claims of an Asean
consensus.
“[T]he rules on consensus means everyone must be on board. Obviously, we are not on board, so there is no consensus.”
He also said that there was a “suggestion” from the Philippines that
China should pull their ships from the Scarborough Shoal in the South
China Sea. Both countries have engaged in a standoff over the territory
since April when they began posting naval and coastguard ships near the
shoal, though the Philippines has since pulled its ships out of the
area.
Ms. Fu said in a press conference that China has a policy of “good
neighborliness and friendliness,” and that the Scarborough Shoal, also
known as Huangyuan Island in Chinese, is Chinese territory.
“Premier Wen [Jiabao] responded to when leaders of some countries
made their remarks. Premier Wen Jiabao said that Huangyuan Island is
China’s territory and there has been no disputes,” Ms. Fu said. “China’s
act of defending its sovereignty is necessary and legitimate.”
“We are dedicated to maintaining peace and stability in the South
China Sea. We have properly handled the incident that was not the making
of China,” she said.
“We do not want to bring the disputes to an occasion like this and we
do not want to give over-emphasis to the territorial disputes and the
differences and we don’t think it is a good idea to spread a sense of
tension in this region,” Ms. Fu added.
During the East Asia Summit, Mr. Aquino also stressed to fellow world
leaders the importance of delimiting claims in the South China Sea.
“At no time in the contemporary history of the South China Sea has
clarification and delimitation of maritime areas become more urgent and
imperative than they are now,” he said at the summit, according to a
statement released by the Philippine Foreign Ministry.
3 comments:
I hope Hun sen rely that yuons'stolen the land and trying to back off from being good dog to rebelion's dog,by helping Chinese instead of helping Yuon Yiekcong.Hun sen is not that dumb folks,he playing game with both evils [Yuon&Chen]empire now I hope he wins the game that he plays with these evils being....
Kmenhwatt
Hahaha, youn claimed the disputed islands, what about Koh Trol? Who's disputing that?
Hun Shit is playing with a double sword, youns and chens. Someday he will be stab in the front and back.
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