Australia, Japan and the US yesterday urged Southeast Asia and China to ensure that a South China Sea code of conduct they have committed to draw up will be legally binding and said they strongly opposed “coercive unilateral actions.”
ASEAN and China should establish a set of rules that were “legally binding, meaningful, effective and consistent with international law,” Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement following a meeting in Manila.
Foreign ministers of ASEAN and China on Sunday adopted a negotiating framework for a code of conduct, a move they hailed as progress, but seen by critics as a tactic to buy China time to consolidate its maritime power.
Photo: EPA
Australia, Japan and the US “voiced their strong opposition to coercive unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions.”
They also urged claimants to refrain from land reclamation, construction of outposts and militarization of disputed features, in a veiled reference to China’s expansion of its defense capability on Mischief (Meiji, 美濟礁), Fiery Cross (Yongshu, 永暑島) and Subi (Jhubi, 渚碧礁) reefs in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
The contending states should clarify their claims peacefully in accordance with a 1982 maritime treaty and international law, the trio said.
Photo: EPA
They urged China and the Philippines to abide by last year’s international arbitration ruling, which invalidated China’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea.
Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam also have competing claims there.
The code framework is an outline for what China and ASEAN call “consultations” on a formal agreement, which could start later this year.
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) on Sunday said that hinged on whether the situation was stable, and if there was no “major interference” from outsiders.
Several ASEAN countries want the code to be legally binding, enforceable and have a dispute resolution mechanism, but experts say China will not allow that.
Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said it was still premature to conclude the outcome of the negotiations for the code of conduct (COC), which will be done by lawyers.
“One key issue is the question of legally binding,” he told reporters late on Sunday. “Surely when we move into the COC, it has got to have some additional or significant legal effect.”
Meanwhile, Wang yesterday canceled a scheduled one-on-one meeting in Manila with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Binh Minh, because China was upset over the wording of a communique released by ASEAN foreign ministers on Sunday night that expressed concern over land reclamation on disputed islands, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is not public.
Additional reporting Bloomberg
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