ASEAN diplomats meet China as friction mounts over Beijing's sweeping maritime claims
VIENTIANE, Laos: Top Southeast Asian diplomats met Friday in Laos with China's foreign minister for talks that come as friction escalates over Beijing's growing effort to press its sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.
Several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have territorial disputes with China, leading to direct confrontations that many worry could lead to wider conflict.
“One wrong step in the South China Sea will turn a small fire into a terrible firestorm,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said ahead of talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all have conflicts with China over its claim to sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea, one of the world's most crucial waterways for shipping. Indonesia has also expressed concern over what it sees as Beijing's encroachment into its exclusive economic zone.
The US and its allies, meanwhile, have regularly conducted military exercises and patrols in the area to assert their “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy, including the right to navigate international waters, drawing criticism from China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to arrive on Saturday to attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meetings and was expected to meet Wang on the sidelines.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also attending the meetings and has already had direct talks with Wang.
China is a key ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine, and Wang emphasized the “deepened strategic coordination” between the two nations, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, urged ASEAN ministers not to ignore the European conflict when they hold their meetings.
“I am aware that the Russian aggression against Ukraine may seem far removed from ASEAN, but its consequences, whether in inflation or increased food and oil prices, are also felt by our populations, although Russia works hard to spread disinformation .” Borrell said.
This year, tensions between the Philippines – a US treaty ally – and China have escalated. In June, a Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply vessel collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, triggering alarms.
The ASEAN members – Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos – stressed at their opening meetings on Thursday that it was important not to be drawn in as both China and the US seek to expand their influence in the region .
After the talks, Marsudi said the group stressed that it should not be a proxy for any power, otherwise “it will be difficult for ASEAN to become an anchor for regional stability and peace.”
Wang did not mention the South China Sea in his opening remarks when he met ASEAN ministers on Friday, emphasizing instead Chinese economic and trade ties.
But the issue came up as Indonesia appealed to China to “participate in maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region,” Indonesia's foreign ministry said.
ASEAN ministers stressed the importance of completing ongoing work with China to draft a code of conduct on the South China Sea, as issues there continue to be a “stumbling block” in ASEAN relations with China, the ministry said.
“Indonesia's position is consistent, namely that all claims must be resolved peacefully through direct dialogue between the parties concerned,” it quoted Marsudi as saying.
China and the Philippines said Sunday they had reached an agreement they hope will end their confrontations, aimed at establishing a mutually acceptable arrangement for the disputed area without conceding each side's territorial claims.
There are divisions within ASEAN over how to deal with China's maritime claims and the Philippines has been critical of a perceived lack of support from the bloc.
In Thursday's talks, the Philippines pushed for June's collision to be included in the joint communique to be issued at the end of the meetings. Cambodia and Laos, which are close to China, opposed the wording, according to a senior Southeast Asian diplomat involved in closed-door negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter freely.
Manila's proposal stated that a recent incident in the South China Sea caused “damage to property” and “caused damage” without mentioning specific details such as the name of the shoal and the warring state forces, the diplomat said.
The increasingly violent civil war in ASEAN member Myanmar is also one of the main issues raised, and the group supported Thailand taking a broader role, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said.
Thailand, which shares a long border with Myanmar, has already been involved in providing humanitarian aid. Maris announced that an additional $250,000 will be donated to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management which is overseeing a plan to deliver aid to Myanmar.
The Myanmar army ousted the popularly elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests seeking a return to democratic rule, leading to increased violence and a humanitarian crisis.
ASEAN has been pushing for a “five-point consensus” for peace, but Myanmar's military leadership has so far ignored the plan, raising questions about the bloc's effectiveness and credibility.
It calls for an immediate end to the violence in Myanmar, a dialogue between all concerned parties, the mediation of an ASEAN Special Envoy, the provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels and a visit to Myanmar by the Special Envoy to meet with all concerned parties.
Myanmar has been blocked from sending political representatives to ASEAN meetings and is instead represented by Aung Kyaw Moe, the permanent secretary of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China, which also shares a long border with Myanmar, also plays an important role by supporting the military regime while maintaining close ties with several of the powerful ethnic armed groups currently fighting it.
In his opening remarks ahead of the ASEAN-China talks, Aung Kyaw Moe praised Beijing, pledging that the bloc would continue to work to deepen cooperation with China in all fields.
