JAKARTA: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on Thursday (Jul 13) agreed on guidelines to accelerate the negotiation of the code of conduct for the South China Sea.
The guidelines were adopted in a meeting between China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and ASEAN’s foreign ministers in Jakarta, where the group has held its annual foreign ministers and related meetings.
Indonesia is the current rotating chair of ASEAN.
“This achievement must continue to build positive momentum to strengthen partnerships that advance a paradigm of inclusivity and openness, respecting the international law including UNCLOS 1982, and encourage the habits to hold dialogues and collaboration,” said Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which China has ratified.
Mdm Marsudi said she hoped that China would be ASEAN’s trusted partner to foster an “open and inclusive regional architecture”.
“Only then can we achieve win-win cooperation for the sake of creation, of peace, stability and shared prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” she added.
Details of the guidelines were, however, not revealed.
About one-third of the world’s maritime shipping passes through the South China Sea every year, carrying over US$3 trillion in trade.
It is a hotly contested region with overlapping claims. China claims much of the South China Sea, but ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are also claimant states.
Current ASEAN chair Indonesia is not a claimant state in the South China Sea, but it has clashed with China over fishing rights around its Natuna Islands near the disputed waters in the past few years.