Self-interest and the spectre of Beijing at Sunnylands | New Mandala

Self-interest and the spectre of Beijing at Sunnylands | New Mandala
Dr Mathew Davies, 22 FEBRUARY 2016

Human rights and democracy weren’t given a helping hand as ASEAN leaders met with US President Barack Obama on 15-16 February.

US-ASEAN summit shows that a new Cold War mindset is descending on Asia.

During the Cold War the US and its Western allies proved more than willing to put their commitments to human rights and democracy on hold in the name of self-interest and anti-communism.

In Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, wherever there was superpower competition, there was the trumping of democracy by ‘the national interest’, a slippery term that usually just meant not losing to the presumed machinations of Moscow.

The Sunnylands Special Leaders’ Summit, held February 15-16 between ASEAN member states and the US, shows that China is viewed in much the same way as was the Soviet Union, and that the response from Washington is also going to be similar.

The Joint Statement released by the heads of state/government may not mention China, but it is all about Beijing.

Articles 7 and 8 refer to the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, and particularly call out the right of freedom of navigation, overflight and unimpeded maritime commerce. All of these have been, at least to those attending the Summit, been jeopardised by Beijing’s increasingly hawkish claims in the South China Sea, most recently installing surface to air missiles on reclaimed islands – presumably to make navigation and overflight considerably less ‘free’.

Elsewhere the document talks of ‘ASEAN Centrality’ in the evolving regional architecture of the Asia-Pacific – all very neutral until we consider that China has its own dreams of ‘centrality’ in Asian institutions, be that through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank that the US has not only avoided joining but is reported to have pressured its allies to decline membership, something that has been remarkably unsuccessful.

Beyond those references the remainder of the statement repeats traditional ASEAN mantras – strengthening commitments to economic development, enhancing collaboration, promoting sustainable growth. All laudable goals and all crucial if ASEAN is to play a role, as Washington no doubt hopes, as a growing counter-weight to China in the region, even if that role remains implicit.

The document also includes the words ‘human rights’. Article 4 talks of the need to ‘strengthen democracy, enhancing good governance and adherence to the rule of law, protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms’.

This is not enough, however, to meet the pressing need to promote these values in at least some of ASEAN’s members let alone the demands of some that human rights ‘top the agenda’. The partial but impressive democratic transition of Myanmar since 2010 has been paralleled by a decline in democracy in Thailand, and ongoing struggles in many other ASEAN states, perhaps most notably Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The joint statement goes no further, in fact falls far short, of ASEAN’s own internal commitments to rights and democracy in the 2007 ASEAN Charter or the 2012 ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, both of which are weak documents widely violated by the very states that created them.

Compare America’s willingness in 2016 to put a narrow reading of its geostrategic interest over its values to the situation in the immediate post Cold War world. Then, in the early 1990s, it was the universal validity of democracy that strongly influenced US foreign policy in Southeast Asia.

With China’s growth only just starting to register, the US was a vocal critic of the so-called ‘Asian Values’ argument that saw many leaders in Southeast Asia claim that civil and political rights had to be truncated in the name of strong states and economic development. Today Cambodia’s Hun Sen, widely decried for his human rights abuses over a 30-year period in power, is posing for photographs with the US President.

Values are often the first thing to be squeezed out of the equation when geopolitical necessity is thought to be pressing. That the US-ASEAN Summit has unfolded the way it has suggests that Washington is now well aware of the immediacy and significance of China – no longer its rise but the consequences of it having risen. The Summit has served both to reinforce ASEAN as a diplomatic resource to marshal against Beijing where possible and to show that the US is more willing to talk ASEAN’s language than push its own beliefs in human rights and democracy.

This is unsurprising but regrettable, and perhaps even short-sighted. Unsurprising because that is what powers do when challenges, history gives us numerous examples. Regrettable because the US retains significant influence in the region to push a more ambitious agenda.

But it is the short-sightedness of it that worries me most. If the US and China are really moving towards a more openly aggressive relationship, then what sort of allies does Washington want to have on its side? The Europeans are a whole hemisphere away, internally divided with their own squabbles. We in Australia can offer little in terms of direct ability to face down Beijing. It is to the countries of the Asian rim – Japan and South Korea, with Taiwan lurking in the background – but also ASEAN and its members that US attention and expectation will ultimately have to rest upon.

An ASEAN disunited in its respect for the values the US seeks to promote is an ASEAN susceptible to division, an ASEAN capable of only the weakest of commitments, an ASEAN whose activities, diplomacy and support cannot be relied upon.

The long-term interests of the US are not met by relying too heavily on an ASEAN that does not share its vision of order and justice.

Whilst it was all smiles in Sunnylands, there remain many causes to frown.

Dr Mathew Davies is head of the Department of International Relations at the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs.

War in ASEAN’s troubled waters | New Mandala

War in ASEAN’s troubled waters | New Mandala

 

HUNTER MARSTON, GUEST CONTRIBUTOR, 

10 AUGUST 2015

Chinese ships have been constructing artificial islands and sea walls in the South China Sea. Image: CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and Digitalglobe/TNS.

China’s claims and assertive moves in the South China Sea are putting ASEAN states on edge. But it need not be a case of history repeating and lead to major conflict.

Mounting antagonism in the South China Sea has provoked crisscrossing air and naval jousting on the high waters as well as legal battles in international courts.

China’s increasing assertiveness in territorial waters claimed by ASEAN states have not only cause increased “tensions” in the region, but led observers to wonder if China’s peaceful rise has given way to a new era of great power conflict.

Many scholars have pointed to past precedent and wondered if China’s reemergence as a major power threatens the security architecture and global norms put in place by the United States that has preserved peace in Asia since the end of World War II.

Nearly 2,500 years ago, the rise of Athens led to war with Sparta in the Aegean Sea.

Sparta, leader of the Peloponnesian League, felt a rising Athens threatened stability on the Aegean and launched a war to prevent Athenian dominance. By the end of the nearly three decade conflict, Sparta had subdued Athens, laying waste to the Athenian Empire and ushering in the end of the Greek golden age. Thucydides’ account of the Peloponnesian War outlines the risks posed when a rising power challenges a ruling power.

The South China Sea dispute serves as a litmus test for what Harvard political scientist Graham Allison has called the “Thucydides trap.” Whether China’s rise will inevitably lead to war between major powers is an open question, but Beijing has definitely ratcheted up the tension with deliberate expansion policies.

In May 2014 China deployed an oil rig within 200 nautical miles of Vietnam’s coast and reportedly rammed Vietnamese coast guard vessels. In February this year, the Philippines Foreign Ministry accused Chinese ships of ramming Philippines fishing boats. The government in Manila has since filed its case with the International Court of Justice at The Hague, where arbitration is pending.

Enhanced satellite imagery has revealed massive dredging and reconstruction of underwater rocks and tiny islands by China across the South China Sea – what some have labeled the Great Wall of Sand.

While awareness of the conflicting claims and recent clashes has grown among the international public, most casual observers give the South China Sea short shrift given its looming great game competition for resources and influence.

The South China Sea is believed to hold over 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 28 billion barrels of oil. The region possesses strategic passageways vital to international trade, such as the Strait of Malacca, through which 14 million barrels of crude oil pass every day. Control of sea lanes grants economic clout, security, and lasting prosperity.

China’s rise, which Beijing’s leaders have previously struggled to assert is peaceful and nonthreatening, has not led to outright conflict between major powers. Now, its increasingly provocative actions are worrying international observers and leading outside powers (Japan and the United States) to reassess the need for stabilising forces in the region, while minor powers seek to build stronger relations with the US, which maintains a hegemonic presence in the Pacific.

Patrick Cronin of the Center for New American Security explains that “the primary competition in the South China Sea is rooted in a reemerging China’s capacity and desire for expanding influence over its neighbours and adjacent waters.”

Just as Athens sought to wage minor skirmishes to gain a foothold in the Aegean more than 2000 years ago, China aims to enlarge its sphere of influence and control in the South China Sea, commensurate (in its view) with its status as a great power.

Beijing’s desire to retake hegemony over regional waters is understandable, and not without precedent. In 1823, President James Monroe declared that the United States would unilaterally regard any incursion in North or South American waters by outside (European) nations as a deliberate act of aggression, and that the US would be forced to respond in kind. The Monroe Doctrine served as a de facto declaration of US hegemony over regional waters.

Yet China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea is different for several reasons.

For one, the Americas of the early 19th century comprised a far smaller portion of the global economy. The South China Sea today accounts for one third of global trade, with about 7.2 million barrels of crude oil imported to China per day (slightly more than the US at 7.08 million barrels a day).

Secondly, a huge geographic distance separated America from its rivals across the ocean, colonial Great Britain and Spain. The South China Sea and East China Sea are home to US and Japanese forces as well as the modern navies of the Philippines, Vietnam, and other fledgling states.

Thirdly, as Cronin argues, geopolitics today operate on international rules and legal norms far more than spheres of influence that were more prevalent in the 19th century.

The Thucydides paradigm still holds many valuable lessons for today’s quagmire.

Just as the rising power Athens threatened the security architecture of the ruling power Sparta and its Peloponnesian League, today the rise of China manifests a real threat to the stability enshrined by the rules-based international order led by the US and its alliances with Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.

Any escalation of armed conflict on the South China Sea would have grave negative repercussions for international trade and likely see a spike in oil prices. Such instability could trigger another global recession, or worse, war between the two superpowers.

While realists may cite the Thucydides Trap as evidence of unavoidable conflict between China, the US, and ASEAN states, optimists and pragmatists are working hard to increase dialogue and understanding through confidence building measures and advocating for peaceful dispute settlement mechanisms.

The US could ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to signal a genuine interest in submitting to international law and rules-based solutions to resolve the dispute. Such a move might relieve apprehensions across the Pacific of a U.S. policy to contain China.

Finally, history may repeat itself, but it need not preordain disaster, as modern readers of Thucydides may warn. We can learn from the mistakes of our past, and China and the US may be able to work together to find a “new model of great power relations,” which Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for.

The balance of power isn’t necessarily a zero-sum game. The future may hold room for competition amid cooperation between major powers, without ruling out minor confrontations and adjustments to existing alliances.

Hunter Marston is a freelance Asia analyst based in Washington, DC. He holds a MA in International Studies from the University of Washington in Seattle.

PH takes China to UN arbitral tribunal | Inquirer, net

PH takes China to UN arbitral tribunal | Inquirer, net
Fat Reye, January 22nd, 2013 


MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday announced that the Philippines has taken the step of bringing its West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) territorial disputes to China before an Arbitral Tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to achieve a peaceful and durable solution to the disputes.
The announcement was made by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario.

Del Rosario, in a press conference, said that a note verbale detailing the notification and statement of claim that “challenges before the Arbitral Tribunal the validity of China’s nine-dash claim to almost the entire South China Sea (SCS) including the West Philippine Sea and to desist from unlawful activities that violate the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the Philippines under the 1982 UNCLOS” was handed to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Ma Keqing at around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

“The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China……To this day, a solution is still elusive. We hope that the Arbitral Proceedings shall bring this dispute to a durable solution,” Del Rosario said.

“We hope that China would join us in this aspiration,” Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario noted that Solicitor General Francis H. Jardeleza has been tasked as the legal representative for the Philippines in these Arbitral proceedings.

“The lead counsel of the Philippines is Paul Reichler of Foley and Hoag LLP,” he said.

Philippines, Vietnam protest map in China passport | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent

Philippines, Vietnam protest map in China passport | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
AP News, Nov 23, 2012


MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A map that China has incorporated into its passports has drawn diplomatic fury because it appears to claim the entire South China Sea, ignoring competing claims from the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters in Manila that he sent a note to the Chinese Embassy that his country “strongly protests” Beijing’s inclusion of an image showing China’s claimed maritime borders in its new passport.

Del Rosario says China’s claims include an area that is “clearly part of the Philippines’ territory and maritime domain.”

The Vietnamese government said it had also sent a diplomatic note to the Chinese embassy in Hanoi, demanding that Beijing remove the “erroneous content” printed in the passport.
In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry said the new passport was issued based on international standards.

“The outline map of China on the passport is not directed against any particular country,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday.

China maintains it has ancient claims to all of the South China Sea, despite much of it being within the exclusive economic zones of Southeast Asian neighbors. The potentially oil- and gas-rich South China Sea islands and waters also are claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

There are concerns that the disputes could escalate into violence. China and the Philippines had a tense maritime standoff at a shoal west of the main Philippine island of Luzon early this year.

The United States, which has said it takes no sides in the territorial spats but that it considers ensuring safe maritime traffic in the waters to be in its national interest, has backed a call for a “code of conduct” to prevent clashes in the disputed territories. But it remains unclear if and when China will sit down with rival claimants to draft such a legally binding nonaggression pact.

The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam are scheduled to meet Dec. 12 to discuss claims in the South China Sea and the role of China.

EU supports Asean approach to sea row | Philippine Daily Inquirer

EU supports Asean approach to sea row
Leila B. Salaverria, Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 6th, 2012

VIENTIANE, Laos—In meetings on Monday with President Benigno Aquino III, leaders of the European Union (EU), Switzerland and Norway declared support for an Asean approach to the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office told reporters that the European leaders indicated their support for a peaceful resolution of the territorial conflicts based on international law, which is the same as the Philippine  position.

But any meeting with China, which is claiming nearly all of the West Philippine Sea, is not on Mr. Aquino’s schedule, Coloma said.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims to parts of the sea.

Mr. Aquino is also expected to mention the matter when he addresses the Asia-Europe summit and is likely to discuss the territorial dispute during bilateral talks with the leader of Japan on Tuesday, Coloma said. Japan also has simmering tensions with China due to conflicting claims to East China Sea islets.

“There was an agreement that it is a matter of international interest considering that a significant amount of world trade passes through that body of water. And in particular, Switzerland and the EU, and to some extent also Norway, indicated their firm support for the Philippines in terms of our position that conflicts or disputes in that area are to be resolved peacefully and follow international law,” Coloma said.

“And in particular, there is firm support for an Asean-centric approach, which has always been the position of President Aquino considering that four out of the 10-member states of Asean have specific stakes in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.

China has taken the position that territorial disputes should be settled bilaterally.

President Aquino had trilateral meetings with Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.
He also held bilateral talks with Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Swiss Confederation President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.

Coloma said the EU officials told Mr. Aquino that concerns about the Philippine aviation industry were technical and not political.

Philippine carriers have been banned from the European Union following the poor assessment by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of the country’s aviation safety measures.

“It was emphasized by the President of the European Commission… that these are technical issues—technical issues involving safety standards and these are not political issues. And we acknowledge that we are addressing the technical concerns and that we are moving positively in the direction of addressing and resolving all of those concerns,” Coloma said.

The Philippines was assured that it would get “every measure of support” in meeting international safety standards, he said.

“Definitely, the present restrictions on our Philippine carriers would not promote the idea of increased tourist traffic between Europe and the Philippines. And so we would like to see an early resolution of the concerns of the ICAO and similar bodies like the US Federal Aviation Administration,” Coloma said.

Originally posted: 9:02 pm | Monday, November 5th, 2012

Noynoy Screws up the Scarborough Shoals Issue | Asia Sentinel

Noynoy Screws up the Scarborough Shoals Issue | Asia Sentinel 
Asia Sentinel, 21 September 201

Philippine president dispatches loose cannon to Beijing, gets wounded

President Benigno S. Aquino III is enjoying a surge of popularity at home, with a 78 percent approval rating against only 4 percent negatives, but his latest foray into foreign policy and relations with China has made the Philippines look silly abroad.

The gambit has also shown some of its politicians to be more interested in domestic political games than in seriously representing the nation in dealings with its giant neighbor. It also suggests that Aquino is two-faced about the seas issues, claiming to take a tough line to defend Philippine waters while cozying up to those wanting peace with China at any price.

In an attempt to calm relations with Beijing in the wake of China’s effective seizure of the Scarborough (Panatag) shoal, which lies 120 miles off the coast of Luzon, and deny its rich fishing grounds to Philippine fishing boats Aquino decided on a back-door approach. But instead of entrusting this mission to a seasoned diplomat, or even a well-regarded politician he somehow chose Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a 41-year-old first-term senator who is better known for having led a failed coup attempt in 2003 against then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Trillanes, then a senior grade lieutenant, led 321 soldiers to take control of the Oakwood Towers in Makati City to protest government graft and corruption. He was detained after the mutiny was quelled and spent seven years in prison.

Trillanes claimed to have very good contacts in China, although why that should be has not been explained. However he was given the imprimatur as the President’s back-channel envoy and dispatched to Beijing in August. Despite his lack of proven credentials, the naïve Aquino had been listening to Trillanes for several months and allowed him to go despite knowing that the senator, who was the first lawmaker eve to be elected from his jail cell, was known to be hostile to Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario. He had been quoted in July as saying that Rosario was a “war freak” anxious to obtain US help and thereby worsen relations with China.

Once in Beijing, according to notes of a meeting with him believed taken by Sonia Brady, the Philippine ambassador to China, Trillanes appeared to act more as a Manchurian candidate than an envoy trying to smooth relations with China without compromising the Philippine stance on the shoal, which lies well within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone. He expressed strong disagreement with Philippine official policy.

Trillanes thus completely undercut the role of Foreign Minister del Rosario who complained that back channeling could be useful in some circumstances but in this case was counterproductive. Del Rosario was forced to defend himself publicly against Trillanes and got no support from Aquino, who kept quiet about the whole mess he created.

Malacanang suggested the fuss was mainly a feud between senators, with Senator Juan Ponce Enrile accusing Trillanes of being a traitor.

Trillanes then attacked Manuel Pangilinan, one of the country’s top businessmen, for allegedly encouraging closer US involvement, fanning del Rosario’s alleged anti-China stance and having ulterior motives relating to oil interests on the Recto bank.

Pangilinan was naturally infuriated and threatened to move his operations to Hong Kong, where his First Pacific is a major investment management and holding company with operations in telecommunications, infrastructure, food products and natural resources.

Aquino himself tried and failed to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao at the recent APEC summit in Vladivostok, hoping to discuss the jurisdiction issue but in the wider context of China-Philippine relations.

So now, in the wake of the Trillanes mess, Aquino has had to send Interior Secretary and former Senator Mar Roxas as his special envoy to meet Xi Jinping, President Hu’s heir-apparent.

But the whole episode has shown that while Aquino may be honest and likable his judgments of people and issues leaves much to be desired. And it shows how China must see the Philippines as a pushover, with nationalist rhetoric always undercut by politicians with pecuniary or political interests which transcend the national interest.

China pledges free movement in tense sea as Clinton visits

China pledges free movement in tense sea as Clinton visits
Agence France-Presse, September 5th, 2012 

BEIJING – China promised Wednesday to ensure freedom of navigation in the tense South China Sea and told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton it was willing to work on a code of conduct to manage disputes.

After weeks of escalating tensions in the strategic sea and a war of words between Washington and Beijing, the Pacific powers toned down the rhetoric and pledged cooperation as Clinton met with most of China’s top leadership.

“Freedom and safety of navigation in the South China Sea is assured,” Yang told a rare joint news conference with Clinton inside the imposing Great Hall of the People.

“For China and our neighboring countries, the South China Sea is really a lifeline for exchanges, trade and commerce. There is no issue currently in this area, nor will there ever be issues in that area in the future,” he said.

His assurances may be met by scepticism from neighboring countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam, which have accused China of carrying out a campaign of intimidation as its economic and military clout grows.

The United States has rallied behind the Southeast Asian nations and sharply criticised Beijing’s recent establishment of a remote garrison in the South China Sea, through which half of the world’s cargo flows.

Yang said that China had “plentiful historical and jurisprudential evidence” for its claims to virtually all of the South China Sea, a position that has led Beijing to consider much of the disputed areas to be within its own waters.

But he sounded upbeat on Clinton’s calls for an eventual code of conduct in the South China Sea, which would establish rules and means of dialogue to prevent maritime incidents from escalating into full-fledged conflict.

Pointing to his recent tour of several Southeast Asian nations, Yang said that China agreed to “work towards an eventual adoption of a code of conduct” on the basis of consensus.

Yang said without elaborating that he hoped for “success” at the East Asia Summit in November in Cambodia. Clinton has said that she wanted to see progress on the code in time for the summit after talks in July by Southeast Asian foreign ministers failed to make headway.

Clinton, who met Yang for a dinner Tuesday that stretched past midnight, said it was “in everyone’s interest” for China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to seek a code of conduct.

She denied charges that the growing US military and political focus on Asia was aimed at containing China, saying that President Barack Obama’s administration did not want “unhealthy competition”.

“Both President Obama and I have said frequently that the United States welcomes the rise of a strong, prosperous and peaceful China,” she said.

The show of conciliation stands in marked contrast to the tone of China’s state-run press which has ripped into the United States nearly daily ahead of Clinton’s visit.

Just as Clinton was meeting Chinese leaders, the overseas edition of the People’s Daily warned Wednesday against the United States “sowing discord” among China’s neighbors, calling such a strategy “a counterproductive waste”.

Yang, asked if he shared the dire media assessments of US intentions, said: “Nowhere else do China and the United States share more converging interests and interact more frequently than in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Clinton met President Hu Jintao and much of the top leadership but Vice President Xi Jinping — who is expected to take power next year — called off talks at the last minute.

While China has in the past used abrupt cancellations to show displeasure, the two sides played down the absence of Xi, who made friendly gestures during a visit to the United States earlier this year.

Yang warned against “unnecessary speculation”. A US official said that Xi planned to send a letter to Clinton and that she would likely meet later with someone else involved in the leadership transition.

Clinton’s last visit to China in May was overshadowed by a row over blind dissident Chen Guangcheng, who dramatically escaped house arrest for the safety of the US embassy. China eventually allowed him to move to New York to study.

Clinton pointed to human rights as she said that the United States and China “do not always see eye to eye” on all issues. Concerns have mounted over China’s treatment of Tibet which has seen a wave of self-immolations.

ASEAN diplomacy all at sea | Phnom Penh Post

ASEAN diplomacy all at sea | Phnom Penh Post
David Boyle, 03 August 2012


The headaches at number 3, Samdech Hun Sen Street, have just been getting worse since the ASEAN summit at Phnom Penh’s Peace Palace in June descended into an ungainly squabble.

Cambodian diplomats and politicians at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have found themselves nose diving into a protracted bilateral dogfight with the Philippines – that has many commentators crowing is unbefitting of the ASEAN chair.

How Cambodia ended up trading barbs for weeks after the summit with a country separated from it by Vietnam and more than 1,000 kilometres of ocean has left many scratching their heads.

For the third time this week a Cambodian ambassador yesterday publicly bought into the dispute, which has raged over who was responsible for the failure of ASEAN to issue a foreign ministers joint communiqué during the summit for the first time in its 45-year history.

In The Japan Times Online yesterday, Cambodia’s ambassador in Tokyo, Hor Monirath, rehashed well-worn accusations that the Philippines and Vietnam had “hijacked” the communiqué by insisting it specifically mentioned their bilateral disputes with China over the South China Sea.

Cambodia’s assertion that bilateral disputes were an inappropriate topic for the communiqué  has infuriated Manila, which counters that the hosts obstinately thwarted any attempt to even negotiate over the contentious sea.

The Philippines, Vietnam and a handful of other ASEAN countries all make claims to the immensely valuable waters through which about half the world’s shipping passes and which China argues belongs almost entirely to them.

Officials at the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Philippines Embassy in Phnom Penh were not available for comment yesterday.

Some cheeky commentators and one anonymous diplomat quoted in The New York Times, have suggested Cambodia was a little too close to cash-riddled China rather than its ASEAN brothers during the talks.

Monirath, the son of Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, suggested in his article yesterday that “some media have gone as far as to try to paint a bleak picture of Cambodia’s Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations”, and defended the ASEAN chair’s actions during the summit.

“Cambodia tried to prevent the dispute from further flaring up and to avoid adding fuel to the fire,” he said in the “clarification” published by the Japanese news outlet.

But this latest retort came just two days after Phnom Penh’s ambassador to Manila was publicly summonsed by the Philippines to explain what they deemed was an inflammatory letter to the editor published in the Philippines Star and is, if anything, only likely to exacerbate increasingly heated diplomatic relations.

Both the Cambodian Foreign Ministry and the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs have engaged in public finger pointing, far away from the private corridors of civil diplomatic banter, variously accusing each other of “dirty politics”, “souring the mood” and “sabotage” at the summit.

Political analyst Lao Mong Hay said he was disappointed by the language and the fact that after Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa flew around the region to negotiate a face-saving ASEAN statement of principles on the South China Sea, the feud has continued.

“It seems at the foreign affairs level, Indonesia has done something positive already but it has not been able to unite or reunite and reconcile the two sides,” he said.

“I think we have talked enough about it [and] we should move on after this ASEAN statement; otherwise, you are playing into the Chinese hands.”

An undersecretary at the Indonesia Embassy in Phnom Penh who declined to be named, said the country “was always ready to step in whenever they need us to step in, but we still need for both sides to agree”.

ASEAN prides itself on a special relationship between members, dubbed the “ASEAN way” but one might wonder if the post-summit events have been an example of diplomacy the normal way or the ASEAN way.

‘Language’ holds up South China Sea pact | The Phnom Penh Post

‘Language’ holds up South China Sea pact | The Phnom Penh Post
Bridget Di Certo and Cheang Sokha, 12 July 2012

The world is watching ASEAN foreign ministers as they scramble to reach a consensus on a regional Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, officials at the summit in Phnom Penh acknowledged yesterday.

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that consensus among ASEAN members was a “work in progress”. “We are getting there,” he said.

The major hold-up is “agreement on language,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary of State Kao Kim Hourn said at a press conference yesterday evening.

“The foreign ministers are working on their joint communiqué, but are working on agreement on the language.”

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said ASEAN discussions on the CoC were already having a “calming affect” on the international community.

“The fact that they are all committed to work on the code of conduct seriously in good faith . . . we have already achieved a milestone,” Pitsuwan said. “Earlier on, there was a reluctance on some parties to engage or not to engage and to engage … informally or engage periodically.”

Earlier in the week, ASEAN officials announced that officials had already drafted key elements of the CoC and these elements would then be taken to informal discussion with China.

However, China’s Vice Foreign Minister, Fu Ying, told reporters that there had been a “suggestion” from ASEAN ministers to launch discussions with China on the Code.

“The Chinese minister would like to give a serious consideration of the proposals for exploring the possibilities of a discussion of CoC,” Ying said, stressing that engagement would hinge on all members of ASEAN obeying and implementing the current Declaration of Conduct.

China to join ASEAN sea talks | The Phnom Penh Post

China to join ASEAN sea talks | The Phnom Penh Post
Shane Worrell and Cheang Sokha, 10 July 2012

China may not be in ASEAN, but it’s looking more and more like an honorary member – at least where the South China Sea is concerned.

ASEAN foreign ministers yesterday took a significant step towards involving the burgeoning superpower in South China Sea discussions, adopting key elements of a Code of Conduct on behaviour in the disputed waters.

Kao Kim Hourn, secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said ASEAN was now ready to meet with China over the long-awaited document that would be for “11 parties, not just ASEAN”.

“At the first meeting [on Sunday], they [senior officials] agreed that to work on the Code of Conduct ... ASEAN will meet with China to discuss the code of conduct from now on,” he said. “It is ASEAN and China.”

Senior officials, including some from China, would be involved in the final wording of the CoC, he said.

China, Taiwan and ASEAN members the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia have all made claims on the resource-rich waters that have become a powder keg under the ASEAN chairmanship of China’s close ally Cambodia.

Anxieties about the CoC have intensified this year as activities in the waters increased.

In 2002, ASEAN members and China agreed on a Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC), but it was never fully implemented.

Yesterday’s announcement came just hours after Prime Minister Hun Sen officially launched this week’s ASEAN meetings, which included yesterday’s 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in front of hundreds at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

During his opening address, the Prime Minister said ASEAN “should give emphasis to the implementation of the DoC, including the eventual conclusion of [a CoC]”.

ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan acknowledged yesterday there had been “rising interest” since the ASEAN regional forum in Hanoi in 2010.

“I think this has something to do with the heightened attention to the issue and the realisation and awareness that the region must be able to show the international community that it is manageable and we are trying to manage it in the best possible way,” Pitsuwan said.

The Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh released a statement underscoring its commitment to implementing the DoC, adding that it had been engaged in “informal discussion” on how to “jointly formulate a code of conduct in the South China Sea”.

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To contact the reporters on this story: Shane Worrell at shane.worrell@phnompenhpost.com
Cheang Sokha at sokha.cheang@phnompenhpost.com

US, Philippines expand cooperation on maritime security | Philippine Daily Inquirer

US, Philippines expand cooperation on maritime security |  Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 10, 2012

The United States and the Philippines said on Friday they were expanding intelligence-sharing and cooperation on maritime security, as President Barack Obama reiterated Washington’s desire to be viewed as a Pacific power.

Obama met at the White House with President Benigno Aquino III on Friday afternoon (Saturday morning in Manila) against the backdrop of a two-month standoff between Philippine and Chinese vessels at a disputed shoal in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

China’s assertive behaviour in those waters has served to bolster Manila’s 60-year alliance with Washington, which thrived during the Cold War but ebbed after nationalist political forces prompted the closure of American military bases in 1992.

Obama thanked Aquino for what he called “excellent cooperation” on economic, defence and other issues.
Aquino earlier declared the allies were at a “new juncture in our relations”.

The security and military cooperation with the Philippines “is a reminder to everybody that the United States considers itself, and is, a Pacific power,” Obama said.

Aquino did not refer specifically to the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal conflict with China in his remarks to the press, but said the meeting with Obama “deepened and strengthened a very long relationship we have, especially as we face the challenges that are before both our countries.”
Clear message
Interviewed later while flying from Washington to Los Angeles, Aquino said that every member of the Cabinet present during the meeting with Obama “felt how closely linked our relationship is with [the Americans]”.
Despite the absence of an explicit statement that the United States would come to the Philippines’ defence if attacked by China, Aquino said the steady flow of high-level US government and military officials was part of the “playbook” meant to send “a very clear message precisely what the relationship [between the United States and the Philippines] is”.
“[The United States is] very, very serious about the Mutual Defence Treaty, and that they have communicated the same in so many forums,” Aquino said.


Willing partner
 
Aquino, the son of democracy heroes, has emerged as a willing partner of the United States as it looks to build a stronger presence in Southeast Asia, a region neglected during a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The two sides are discussing how to enhance the US military presence in the Philippines, beyond the decade-long counterterrorism training mission in the country’s south that involves hundreds of American troops.

The United States and the Philippines are bound by the Mutual Defence Treaty. The Philippines had been seeking a clear public statement that the United States would come to its defence should it face attack.
The United States had restricted itself to saying it would honour its obligations under the treaty. No further statement was forthcoming Friday, and neither leader mentioned China.

But the White House later said the leaders “underscored the importance of the principles of ensuring freedom of navigation, respect for international law, and unimpeded lawful commerce”.

“They expressed firm support for a collaborative diplomatic process among claimants to resolve territorial disputes in a manner consistent with international law and without coercion or the use of force,” it said.


Coast Watch Centre

At a lunch hosted earlier for Aquino at the Department of State, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomed an easing of the tensions at the disputed Panatag Shoal in the past week, as China and the Philippines withdrew some vessels from a lagoon at the center of the standoff. Clinton reiterated US interest in peaceful resolution of disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

“The United States has been consistent in that we oppose the use of force or coercion by any claimant to advance its claims, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Clinton said.

Clinton said the United States and the Philippines were working closely to increase information and intelligence exchanges and coordination on maritime domain issues. She announced the United States would support the construction and training of a National Coast Watch Center to help the Philippines monitor its coastline.
Aquino welcomed the US efforts toward ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Speaking to reporters, Aquino said Clinton’s presence during the 60th anniversary of the Mutual Defence Treaty between the United States and the Philippines indicated the US commitment to the agreement.
Aquino said the Philippines did not mean to get the United States embroiled in war in the Asia-Pacific region, but he made it clear that US backing helped strengthen the Philippines’ hand in the Scarborough dispute with China.


Credible defence
 
Aquino, who has presided over an improvement in the Philippine economy, has sought Washington’s help in rebuilding a decrepit military that is in little shape to defend its territorial claims. Obama reaffirmed US support for helping the Philippines build a “minimum credible defence posture.”

Last month, the United States handed to the Philippines a second Coast Guard cutter following the transfer last year of a similar 45-year-old vessel. The first cutter has since become a flagship in the Philippine Navy as the country increasingly focuses on its maritime security. A close US ally, Japan, is also reportedly preparing to supply the Philippines with 10 smaller, new patrol vessels.

While the Obama administration has worked to enhance ties with the Philippines, the United States is very mindful of its need to get along with China to prevent their strategic rivalry from spiraling into confrontation. Washington is careful to stress that while it supports efforts of Southeast Asian nations to develop a code of conduct with China on managing disputes in the West Philippine Sea, it has no position on the conflicting territorial claims there that involve a half-dozen nations.


Rare stop at Subic
 
The United States also says it has no intent to try and contain China, although it has left little doubt about its determination to be viewed as a Pacific power.

Last month saw a rare stop by a US submarine at Subic Bay, location of a former American naval base that faces the West Philippine Sea. And in the past week, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta visited emerging strategic ally India and Vietnam —another West Philippine Sea claimant at odds with China and forging closer relations with the United States. Panetta announced that 60 per cent of the US Navy’s fleet would be deployed to the Pacific by 2020, up from about 50 per cent now.

Shoal row tops agenda of Philippine president's UK, US trips | Philippine Daily Inquirer

Shoal row tops agenda of Philippine president's UK, US trips | Philippine Daily Inquirer
Norman Bordadora and Tina G. Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 2, 2012
 
The country’s  standoff with China over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal would be one of the main points in the bilateral talks between Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and world leaders British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama when he visits London on June 4, and  the United States from June 6 to 8.

"We’d talk about the conditions in the West Philippine Sea,” Aquino said when asked about his London visit.
On his visit to the United States next week, Aquino will be welcomed at the Oval Office by US President Obama, according to Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario.

"[The two leaders] will discuss a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues that reflect the multifaceted nature of the two countries’ strategic partnership,” Del Rosario said in a statement.

"I assume that…Prime Minister David Cameron will also inquire as to the status (of the standoff). (The West Philippine Sea) is a body of water where quite a substantial amount of world trade has to pass through,” the president said in an interview.

"So it’s a matter of concern for everybody if things change that will restrict the free flow of goods and services (in this) particular body of water,” he added.

President Aquino recently appointed career diplomat Sonia Brady to a posting in Beijing.

Old hand

"She’s been there. She knows who to talk to, she knows the system, she knows our concerns,” Aquino said of his expectations from the country’s new ambassador to China who has since been confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

4th meeting

It will be the fourth meeting between the two presidents in a span of two years.  The two leaders were also at the September 2010 Association of Southeast Asian Nations-United States (Asean-US) Leaders Meeting in New York, the September 2011 launch of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) also in New York, and the Nov 18, 2011, Asean-US Leaders’ Meeting in Bali.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host a luncheon in honor of the President and his delegation at the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room of the State Department in Washington, DC, Del Rosario said.

The president will also meet with leaders of the US Senate at a reception organised by Senate President Pro Tempore Daniel K. Inouye at the US.Capitol, and with members of the Filipino-American community in Los Angeles on his way back to Manila.

The Inquirer has learned that “American Idol” runner-up Jessica Sanchez will sing at the Fil-Am reception for the president.

'Heightened engagement'

The DFA statement said Aquino’s US visit reflected the “heightened engagement” between the Philippines and the US, as evidenced by the "upward trajectory of high-level exchanges," including the Bilateral Strategic Dialogue, the visits of US Congressional delegations to the Philippines, and the recent 2+2 Meetings in Washington, DC.

Del Rosario added that President Aquino will be the guest of honor at the launch of the US-Philippines Society, a private sector initiative designed to encourage economic ties, promote trade and investment, support common strategic and political goals, and strengthen cultural, technological, educational, and people-to-people linkages between the two countries.

The Society is cochaired by Ambassador John D. Negroponte for the US side and Manuel V. Pangilinan for the Philippines, and Washington Z. Sycip and Maurice “Hank” Greenberg as honourary chairs.  Eminent business leaders from both countries comprise the Society’s Board.
 

China on high alert over Philippine 'patriotic' trip | Philippine Daily Inquirer

China on high alert over Philippine 'patriotic' trip | Philippine Daily Inquirer
Tina G. Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 20, 2012

The planned “patriotic voyage” by former Philippine Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon to the disputed Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc) has prompted China to go on “high alert” in the area.

“(We) will remain on high alert over the island to prevent any provocative behavior,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said in a news item posted Friday on the Chinese government’s web portal.

Hong also said the “Philippine side” should stop such “irresponsible remarks and inciting radical behaviours.”
Faeldon earlier planned to hold a “patriotic voyage” to the disputed shoal but was dissuaded from doing so by President Aquino at the last minute on Friday.

Presidential deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said the President asked Faeldon to reconsider his plan because “it might be construed in a negative way”.

The Philippine government has a policy of deescalation in the wake of the standoff with China over the shoal.
Hong reiterated that Huangyan Island—the name by which China refers to the disputed shoal—is “part of China’s territory”.

He also urged the Philippines to “come back to the right track of a diplomatic solution” to the ongoing dispute and “send clear and consistent messages” on the issue.

Sought for comment, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said: “As we had said, we are endeavoring to utilize diplomatic consultations in the hope that we can diffuse the current circumstance in Bajo de Masinloc.”

“We believe that a more durable solution, however, would need to be a validation of our respective claims as provided for by the dispute settlement mechanisms under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Del Rosario said in a text message to the Inquirer.

On the other hand, Faeldon’s spokesperson, Kit Guerrero, said that China appeared to be “overreacting”.
“The voyage never took place because the President asked Nick not to push through with it,” Guerrero said, adding that Faeldon’s intention “was never to provoke or agitate, but to support the country’s position in a peaceful and unarmed way”.

“Even if it pushed through, there was no plan to raise our flag, but only to show our civilian presence there which is our right as citizens within our Philippine territory,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Filipino community in Hawaii held a community forum at the Philippine Consulate last week to discuss current Philippine maritime issues and concerns, more specifically those related to the dispute over Bajo de Masinloc and the waters within its vicinity.

“The consulate made it clear that the purpose of the forum was not to incite or ignite anti-China sentiments but rather to provide a more academic perspective of the current issues between the Philippines and China,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The consulate also stressed that the forum was a private initiative of the community and not of the Philippine government, adding that many of those who attended expressed much appreciation for the initiative.

Invited speakers included Consul General Julius Torres, Dr. Serafin Colmenares Jr. of the Language Access Program of the Office of the Governor, Dr. Fred Magdalena of the University of Hawaii, and Dr. Belinda Aquino, retired professor also of the University of Hawaii.

The participants included members of the Hawaii Filipino Lawyers Association, Fil-Am Youth Forum, the academe and the media.

Philippines 'willing to share' Spratlys bounty | Philippine Daily Inquirer

Philippines 'willing to share' Spratlys bounty | Philippine Daily Inquirer
Norman Bordadora, Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 18, 2012

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III is willing to share with other countries in the region the benefits of the natural gas deposits in the disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea. But he said he will not be a  party to the ceding of portions of the Philippine archipelago to a foreign power like China.

Speaking before a general assembly of alumni of US universities late Wednesday, Aquino said the Philippine government continues to talk with the Chinese for a mutually beneficial solution to their standoff over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal as well as other disputed territories in the area.

"I am not empowered to give up any of our territory,” the president said in answer to a suggestion that “a win-win solution” might be for the two countries to split the US$35 trillion worth of natural gas that another disputed territory, the Recto Bank, is believed to hold.

The Recto Bank (international name: Reed Bank), which lies within the Philippines’ 200 nautical-mile (370 kilometres) economic zone, is located abut 150 km east of the Spratly chain of  islets, which is claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as the Philippines and China.

The Recto Bank, which is said to have oil and gas deposits that reach deep into the Cuyo Islands in Palawan, has been the subject of numerous exploration campaigns by the Philippines in the past.

The Philippines last year filed a diplomatic protest against China after two Chinese ships reportedly harassed a vessel that had been contracted by the government to undertake oil exploration activities in the bank.

Aquino acknowledged that the huge benefits from the resources in the disputed territories could free the region from dependence on fossil fuel from Middle Eastern and North African countries.

"If we are able to exploit these resources, that redounds to benefits for the entire region,” he said.

He said the parties to the dispute “should work towards easing the problems and the concerns of our respective peoples in the here and now and not in some future date where, you know, it is not a fair solution.”

"If it’s clear that we have a 200-mile economic zone, exclusive economic zone, designated by the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas, and both of us are parties to it, is it too much to ask that our rights are respected by our neighbours in the same token that we respect their rights?” he said.

The president said the Philippines doesn’t have to be “the sole winner of exploitation of resources” in the disputed areas. He said the country has always been a good neighbour to other countries in the Asia Pacific.

However, it has to draw the line when it should look after its rightful interests, he said.

"Recto Bank is 80 miles from us. There are areas that are even closer…So if we keep on subtracting about 30 per cent—and not to be flippant about it—if you don’t draw the line somewhere, will we be having claims against us on the Pasig River or other rivers?” he added.

He stressed that the Philippines was resolved on a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the disputes with China, noting that it cannot afford to engage Beijing militarily.

"So we are exploring ways and means to resolve the conflict. We keep on reemphasising that we are not for conflict. We do not want to present a threat to them in any shape, manner or form, or whatsoever in terms of military action,” he said.

“If it were just a boxing match, they’re 1.3 billion and we’re 93 million. We will not prevail. That is not the route and our Constitution actually prohibits it,” he said.

Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez said there is an upside to the tension between the Philippines and China over the Panatag Shoal dispute.

He said the Philippines’ refusal to bow down to China has united many Filipinos against a common enemy and earned the country respect from other groups and nations.

"This extended standoff, with the Philippines not buckling down against the world’s second most powerful country, is gaining for us international respect and moral support,” Golez said in a statement.

"It is a unifying and rallying force. Even Filipino groups outside the country have mobilised themselves in support of our cause,” he said.

It also shows the world that the Philippines has a strong and steadfast foreign policy that does not crumble under economic pressure and veiled military threats, Golez said. With Leila Salaverria