ASEAN raises concern over developments in South China Sea. gmanetwork/news/story/344614/news/nation/asean-raises-concern-over-developments-in-south-china-sea Following Chinas imposition of a new fisheries law, officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have expressed concern over the recent developments in the South China Sea, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. During a retreat in Bagan, Myanmar, the DFA said ASEAN foreign ministers expressed their concerns on the recent developments in the South China Sea. The statement came after China imposed a new law that bans the entry of foreign vessels in Beijing-claimed areas in the disputed South China Sea. Earlier, China also unilaterally imposed an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over disputed waters in the East China Sea. But during the retreat, the DFA said the ASEAN foreign ministers reaffirmed the ASEANs Six-Point Principles on the South China Sea and the importance of the maintenance of peace and stability, maritime security, freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea. They also called on all parties to resolve disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and also urged continued self-restraint in the conduct of activities. It said the foreign ministers likewise called on all parties to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) to undertake the full and effective implementation of the DOC in order to build an environment of mutual trust and confidence. They emphasized the need to expeditiously work towards the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC). But aside from this, the DFA said the foreign ministers also discussed the priorities of ASEAN for 2014, which include efforts to speed up community building and ASEAN integration and to move forward to the realization of the Master Plan for ASEAN Community. On the regional and international issues, the foreign ministers stressed the importance of upholding ASEAN’s centrality in the evolving regional architecture in addressing the issues of common interest of ASEAN. The ministers also discussed ways to further contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of the region and beyond, it said. The January 17 retreat was presided by Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin, chair of ASEAN for 2014. It is the first in the series of ASEAN foreign ministers’ meetings under Myanmar’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2014 under the theme “Moving forward in Unity to a Peaceful and Prosperous Community.” The Philippines has rejected Chinas call to meet halfway on the new Chinese fisheries law and even issued a public protest against it. The Philippines said it will not be bound by the Chinese regulation it branded as illegal and a threat to regional peace and stability. China claims the South China Sea nearly in its entirety under it so-called nine-dash line claim and the cluster of islands, reefs and atolls further south that’s called the Spratlys. Other claimants are Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Manila has sought arbitration under the UNCLOS to try to declare as “illegal” China’s nine-dash claim, which covers almost all of the South China Sea, including sections that have been declared as the West Philippine Sea. —Kimberly Jane Tan/KG, GMA News
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 03:39:51 +0000
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