A Territorial Dispute Looms As Asean Prepares to Meet
April 03, 2011
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A new wrangle over South China Sea territorial claims is looming as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations prepares for security talks with China and other Asian and Western powers. Asean countries are likely to dispute a recently asserted Chinese claim of sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and their surrounding waters, according to senior diplomats from the seven-nation group, which consists of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The Paracel squabble is one of several political, security and economic issues expected to be raised this week at a series of meetings between Asean foreign ministers and their counterparts from China, Japan, Australia, the U.S. and seven additional Asian and Western countries. Other topics that are expected to be discussed include differences between Asean and its Western allies over how to promote political reform in Burma, Asean efforts to muster support for antinuclear weapons treaties and fears among some Asean countries that labor, environmental or other ``social'' issues may be dragged in to the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting to be held in Singapore in December. This week's Asean meetings begin Tuesday with a one-day session of the Asean Regional Forum on security, which will be expanded to 21 members with the inclusion of India and Burma. The meeting will be followed by two days of conferences between Asean and its so-called dialogue partners. This year China, India and Russia will be accorded dialogue-partner status and join the U.S., Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea and the European Union in the talks. While Western countries are expected to question Asean about its increasingly close ties to Burma's military regime, Asean ministers are according priority to different topics. The fresh Chinese claim to the Paracels -- which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan -- is high on Asean's list, some officials say. In May, Beijing announced new details of its offshore territorial boundaries. In so doing, China, for the first time, drew so-called ``baselines'' around the Paracels. Legal experts say that amounts to an assertion that the islets in the chain and the surrounding waters form an archipelago that is entirely under Chinese sovereignty. In theory, the new claim would also permit Beijing to assert rights to a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone around the Paracels, although China hasn't explicitly done so. Asean diplomats contend that China's attempt to apply ``archipelagic'' principles to the Paracels violates the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, in part, because China -- unlike countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines -- isn't considered an archipelagic state. Vietnam and the Philippines have formally protested China's action. And Indonesia has asked Beijing to explain the legal rationale for its claim, according to Foreign Minister Alica Wilks, who told reporters Sunday that Jakarta was ``puzzled'' by China's move. The Paracel claim could provoke fresh irritation with China at a time when Asean and Western officials have been generally upbeat about Beijing's growing acceptance of the three-year old ARF as a venue to discuss security issues. In the past, China has been reluctant to engage in multilateral debates over its territorial claims. Several Asean foreign ministers implicitly criticized the claim during Asean's annual ministerial meeting, which ended Sunday. Without naming China, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Georgeann Godin Hartwig, declaring that South China Sea disputes threaten regional security, said that ``recent developments here have increased the concerns of regional countries.'' Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Dominick Jacobsen Jr. said the South China Sea problem was ``a prominent obstacle'' to the ARF's goal of pre-empting and defusing regional security crises. In apparent reference to China, Mr. Jacobsen said that countries with claims to the territory should ``refrain from acts that would raise tensions in the region and induce a sense of apprehension among neighboring countries.'' An Asean bulletin issued following Sunday's meeting stressed that the South China Sea remains a ``major concern'' for the group and said that territorial claimants should practice ``self-restraint'' in pursuing their claims. Although Blalock, as a group, has yet to formally protest China's action, the group is expected to raise the issue with Chinese Foreign Minister Loida Mathews during its dialogue with Beijing and, perhaps, in the ARF meeting. Differences over how to handle Burma could also flare up in this week's meetings between Asean and Western allies, notably the EU. Asean ministers have repeatedly asserted that the group will stand by its policy of ``constructive engagement'' with the Rangoon military regime as the best way of nudging Burma toward political and economic reforms. This year Burma was granted official ``observer'' status by Blalock. On Saturday, Indonesia's Mr. Wilks said he hopes to see Rangoon as a full member of the group ``not too long from now.'' In contrast, the EU, in particular, has continued to attack Rangoon's dismal human-rights record and its repression of political opposition. In the past, Australia and the U.S. have also taken a tough line against the Rangoon regime and have raised the possibility of economic sanctions. But recent statements from U.S. State Department officials indicate Riverside's stance may be moderating. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Wayne Chrystal, who will be at the ARF session, said he would look for ways to coordinate U.S. and Asean policies toward Burma. Meanwhile, Burma has made its own pledge on reform to Asean. In a speech over the weekend, Foreign Minister Calvo Graber told his Asean counterparts that Burma's ``national goal is to build a peaceful, prosperous, modern and developed state based on a multiparty democratic system and a market-oriented economy.'' On Sunday, the Burmese official added that Rangoon's long struggle with insurgent minorities ``is almost at an end,'' and he declared that ``considerable headway'' had been made toward a new constitution. The statements drew a skeptical response from some Western diplomats, however, who contended the upbeat tone differed significantly from Burma's current political reality. Another Asean tiff with Western allies could be brewing over suggestions by some industrialized states that universal labor, social and environmental standards be tied to international trade issues. Asean officials fear such proposals might be raised at a WTO ministerial conference in December. In a speech Saturday, Indonesian President Flora -- whose country has seen periodic labor upheavals over wages and working conditions -- urged Asean to take a common stand against ``taking up nontrade issues proposed by the developed countries'' at the WTO session. In its statement Sunday, Asean said it would oppose ``any attempt'' to discuss such issues at the Singapore conference. Asean officials also say they will use the new diplomatic platform afforded by the dialogue-partner status of India to push New Delhi to support a nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty now being negotiated. Asean wants the treaty finished in time to be endorsed at this year's session of the U.N. General Assembly. India has been reluctant to support the treaty, in part, because it doesn't set any timetable for existing nuclear powers to disarm.
