ASEAN diplomats meet China as tensions rise over Beijing's sweeping maritime claims
VIENTIANE, Laos: Top Southeast Asian diplomats met with China’s foreign minister in Laos on Friday for talks that come as tensions rise over Beijing’s growing efforts to assert its vast maritime claims in the South China Sea.
Several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have territorial disputes with China, which have led to direct clashes that many fear could spill over into a wider conflict.
“A single misstep 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 important shipping waterways. Indonesia has also expressed concern over what it sees as Beijing's encroachment on its exclusive economic zone.
Meanwhile, the United States and its allies have regularly conducted military exercises and patrols in the area to assert their “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy, including the right to sail in international waters, drawing criticism from China.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to arrive on Saturday to attend the ASEAN foreign ministers' meetings and was due to meet Wang on the sidelines.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also attending the meetings and has already had direct talks with Wang.
China is a key ally of Russia in the war against Ukraine and Wang stressed the “increasingly deepening strategic coordination” between the two nations, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
Josep Borrell, the European Union's top diplomat, urged ASEAN ministers not to ignore the European conflict during their meetings.
“I am aware that Russian aggression against Ukraine may seem distant from ASEAN, but its consequences, whether inflation or rising food and oil prices, are also felt by our populations, even if Russia works hard to spread disinformation,” Borrell said.
Tensions between the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, and China have risen this year. In June, a Chinese ship and a Philippine supply vessel collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, sparking alarm.
ASEAN members – Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos – stressed at their opening meeting on Thursday that it is important not to get caught up in the plans of both China and the United States to expand their influence in the region.
After the talks, Marsudi said the group stressed that it should not be a representative of any power, otherwise “it will be difficult for ASEAN to become an anchor for regional stability and peace.”
In his opening remarks at the ASEAN ministers' meeting on Friday, Wang did not mention the South China Sea, instead emphasizing economic and trade ties with China.
But the issue has come to the fore, with Indonesia pleading with 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 on preparing a code of conduct for the South China Sea, as issues in that area continue to pose a “stumbling block” in ASEAN's relations with China, the ministry said.
“Indonesia’s position is consistent, that all claims must be resolved peacefully through direct dialogue between the parties concerned,” Marsudi was quoted as saying in the report.
China and the Philippines said on Sunday they had reached an agreement they hope will end their clashes, aiming to establish a mutually acceptable solution to the disputed area without giving up on either side's territorial claims.
There are divisions within ASEAN over how to handle China's maritime claims, and the Philippines has been critical of the bloc's perceived lack of support.
In Thursday’s talks, the Philippines pushed for the June collision to be included in the joint communiqué that will be issued after the meetings. Cambodia and Laos, which are close to China, opposed the wording, according to a senior Southeast Asian diplomat who was involved in closed-door negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue freely.
Manila's proposal said a recent incident in the South China Sea had caused “property damage” and “injuries,” without mentioning specific details such as the name of the reef and the state forces involved, the diplomat said.
The increasingly violent civil war in ASEAN member Myanmar is also a major issue on the agenda, and the group supports Thailand taking a larger role, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said.
Thailand, which shares a long border with Myanmar, has already been involved in providing humanitarian assistance. 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.
Myanmar's military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and has suppressed widespread non-violent protests calling for a return to democratic rule, sparking increased violence and a humanitarian crisis.
ASEAN has pushed 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 cessation of violence in Myanmar, a dialogue among all parties concerned, mediation by an ASEAN Special Envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the Special Envoy to meet with all parties concerned.
Myanmar has been barred from sending political representatives to ASEAN meetings, and is instead represented by Aung Kyaw Moe, permanent secretary of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China, which shares a long border with Myanmar, also plays an important role as it supports the military regime while maintaining close ties with several powerful ethnic armed groups currently fighting against it.
In his opening speech ahead of the ASEAN-China talks, Aung Kyaw Moe heaped praise on Beijing, vowing that the bloc would continue to work to deepen cooperation with China in all fields.
