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South China Sea a thorny issue at regional security meet
August 04, 2011
Bali Island, Indonesia - The Philippines used the Asia-Pacific's largest
security forum Saturday to lash out at China over a territorial dispute,
calling Beijing's claim to the entire South China Sea 'baseless.'
Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario said China had made at
least seven 'aggressive intrusions' into his country's territory since
late February.
'When the Philippines protested the intrusions, the response was a denial
that no such intrusions occurred because of China's ... claim over the
entire South China Sea,' del Rosario told foreign ministers and diplomats
from 26 countries meeting on Indonesia's resort island of Bali.
'If Philippine sovereign rights can be denigrated by this baseless claim,
many countries should begin to contemplate the potential threat to freedom
of navigation in the South China Sea,' he said.
China has been locked in disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei,
Malaysia and Taiwan over the South China Sea, an area believed to be rich
in oil and gas and through which important global shipping routes pass.
Saturday's meeting, called the ASEAN Regional Forum, followed an agreement
between the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on
guidelines governing the conduct of the claimant countries in the South
China Sea.
Officials called the guidelines a landmark document that could ease
tensions in the region, but said more efforts were needed to create a more
binding code of conduct.
On the eve of the forum, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told
ASEAN foreign ministers in a closed-door meeting that the United States
was committed to the region's peace, progress and prosperity.
'The community of nations represented here today are really important
leaders in meeting the global challenges we face together, from climate
change, to [nuclear] proliferation, to piracy,' Clinton said.
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia, the current chair of
ASEAN, said the talks were critical to confidence building in the region.
'The real true outcome is the promotion of confidence and better
understanding, because countries, if they disagree, it's better for them
to air those disagreements in that setting rather than through other
means,' he said.
China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met Clinton in Bali on Friday, after
which his spokesman said Beijing told Washington to respect its
territorial integrity, including on the issue of Tibet.
China has sharply criticized a meeting this month between US President
Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
The United States has pledged to defend the Philippines under the two
countries' mutual defence treaty and has held naval exercises with
Vietnam.
Officials have hailed the guidelines on Declaration of Conduct on the
South China, endorsed by China and ASEAN on Thursday, as a landmark
document that could reduce tensions.
Talks in Bali brought together the European Union and Asia-Pacific
countries, including those involved in six-party talks on ending North
Korea's nuclear programme - the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South
Korea and North Korea.
In another development that could ease regional tensions, top diplomats
from North Korea and South Korea agreed on Friday during a meeting in Bali
to work to revive talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programme, which
have been stalled since December 2008.
The talks between North Korea's Ri Yong Ho, and his South Korean
counterpart, Wi Sung Lac, were the first for top Korean officials since a
South Korean warship was sunk in March 2010, killing 46 sailors. North
Korea has denied accusations that it torpedoed the ship.
North Korea launched an artillery attack on a South Korean border island
in November, killing four.
Seoul demanded Pyongyang apologize for both incidents, but it has denied
any wrongdoing.