South China Sea focal at ASEAN meet

Posted on June 30, 2013 by sagarmedia

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Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are trying to forge a unified policy on China’s increasing maritime presence in the region. Ten ministers began a four-day conference in Brunei on Saturday.

Members affected  discussed disputes between China and some ASEAN members over islands in the South China Sea.They are looking to conclude a legally-binding code of conduct with China to peacefully resolve the disputes.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea’s Yun Byung-Se to come face-to-face and talks on the sidelines of the annual diplomatic and security meetings at  the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Brunei, the Japanese foreign ministry said late Saturday. 

South Korea’s Yun called off a visit to Tokyo this year two months back after two Japanese cabinet ministers paid their respects at the Yasukuni shrine, a central Tokyo spot that honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including war criminals.

Two countries are having important trading relationship both  allies of the United States, South Korea and Japan often struggle to get along.

On Sunday with a firm focus on trying to ease tensions with China over a territorial row, amid warnings that failure could lead to conflict on South China sea and other territorial disputes and trifles prevailing.

Rains have dampened the toxic fumes  from uncontrolled burning of Indonesia’s enormous rainforest  drifted across to neighbouring countries is expected to be high on the agenda at the annual 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers’ meeting in Brunei’s capital.

Meeting  on Monday and Tuesday to include the United States, China, Japan, Russia and other countries across the Asia-Pacific, the rostrum for  face-to-face diplomacy on matters pertain to Asians tiger.

 China’s increasingly assertive postures  in staking its claims to most of the South China Sea were set to dominate. This is self explanatory in setting the tone for the event, a powerful arm of China’s state-run media warned the Philippines on Saturday that its defiance could lead to aggressive Chinese action.

“If the Philippines continues to provoke China… a counterstrike will be hard to avoid,” said an editorial in the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party reports media.

ASEAN members include Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan, also claim parts of the strategically vital South China Sea.

 

Newspapers reports the waterway,  believed to sit atop vast deposits of oil and natural gas,  regarded as one of Asia’s potential military flashpoint  the growing  tensions in recent years has enhanced concerns on matter of  battles for curb.

 Recently Philippines  the most rhetoric  of the other claimants parties has express great concern  at China’s growing dominance which is  including  an increased Chinese naval presence in the area, and Philippines  expressing   her  latest threat from its more powerful neighbour.

“There is no place in the relations of civilised nations to use such provocative language. We call on China to be a responsible member in the community of nations,” foreign ministry spokesman Raul Hernandez said in response to the People’s Daily commentary.

ASEAN members trying for more than a decade to secure agreement from China on a legally binding code of conduct that would govern actions in the South China Sea.China resisted agreeing to the code, wary of giving any concessions that may weaken its claim to the sea.

 Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said ASEAN would continue to press its case with China in Brunei.”We will be really zeroing in on the need for the code of conduct,” Natalegawa told reporters on Saturday.

 US Secretary of State John Kerry  to hold a series of meetings with his counterparts from the world’s major powers, including Russia’s Sergei Lavrov and China’s Wang Yi to ease the repository of unease.

 United States  placed in fix  this weeks by perceived Chinese and Russian side Syria and help fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden presence at Moscow’s airport en-route to asylum destination after being allowed to leave the Chinese territory of Hong Kong