ASEAN diplomats meet with China as crises mount over Beijing's sweeping maritime claims
VIENTIANE, Laos: Senior Southeast Asian diplomats met China's foreign minister in Laos on Friday for talks that come as friction rises over Beijing's growing effort to and supports 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 confrontations that many worry could lead to a wider conflict.
“One wrong step in the South China Sea will turn a small fire into a terrible storm,” 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 all of the South China Sea, one of the world's most important waterways for shipping. Indonesia has also expressed concern over what it sees as an encroachment by Beijing into its exclusive economic zone.
Meanwhile, the United States and its allies have regularly conducted exercises and military patrols in the area to assert their “free and open Indo-Pacific” policy, including the right to navigate in international waters, drawing criticism from China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to arrive on Saturday to attend ASEAN foreign ministers' meetings and was expected to meet Wang on the sidelines.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also attending the meetings and has already held direct talks with Wang.
China is a key ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine, and Wang emphasized “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 as they hold their meetings.
“I am aware that Russian aggression against Ukraine may seem far from ASEAN, but its consequences, whether it is inflation or rising food and oil prices, are also felt by our population, even as Russia works to spread disinformation .” Borrell said.
This year, tensions between the Philippines – a US treaty ally – and China have escalated. In June, a Chinese ship and a Philippine supply vessel collided near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, raising alarm.
ASEAN members – Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos – stressed in their opening meetings on Thursday that it was important not to be drawn in as both China and the US seek to- and expand influence in the region.
Following the talks, Marsudi said the group emphasized that it should not be a proxy for any power, otherwise “it will be difficult for ASEAN to become an anchor for regional stability and peace.”
Wang did not mention the South China Sea in his opening remarks when he met ASEAN ministers on Friday, instead emphasizing economic and trade ties with China.
But the problem has arisen, with Indonesia imploring 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 the preparation of a code of conduct in the South China Sea, as the issues remain a “stumbling block” in ASEAN's relations with China, the ministry said.
“Indonesia's position is consistent, which is that all claims must be settled peacefully through direct dialogue between the parties concerned,” Marsudi was quoted as saying.
China and the Philippines said on Sunday they had reached an agreement they hoped would end their standoff, aimed at establishing a mutually acceptable arrangement for the disputed area without conceding each side's territorial claims.
There are divisions within ASEAN over how to deal with China's maritime claims, and the Philippines has been critical of a lack of support from the bloc.
In Thursday's talks, the Philippines pushed for the June collision to be included in the joint communique to be issued at the end of the meetings. Cambodia and Laos, which are close to China, opposed the wording, according to a senior Southeast Asian diplomat who was involved in the 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 caused “property damage” and “caused injuries,” without mentioning specifics such as the name of the bank and the competing state forces, the diplomat said.
The increasingly violent civil war in ASEAN member Myanmar is also one of the main issues being addressed, and the group has supported Thailand taking a wider 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 another $250,000 will be donated to the ASEAN Coordination Center for Humanitarian Assistance in Disaster Management, which is overseeing an aid delivery plan in Myanmar.
Myanmar's military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests seeking a return to democratic rule, leading to increased violence and a humanitarian crisis.
ASEAN has promoted 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 end to the violence in Myanmar, a dialogue between all parties involved, mediation by an ASEAN Special Envoy, the provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels and a visit to Myanmar by the Special Envoy to meet with all parties involved.
Myanmar has been blocked from sending political representatives to ASEAN meetings and is instead represented by Aung Kyaw Moe, the permanent secretary of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China, which also shares a long border with Myanmar, also plays an important role by supporting the military regime while maintaining close contacts with several of the powerful armed ethnic groups currently fighting it.
In his opening statement ahead of the ASEAN-China talks, Aung Kyaw Moe praised Beijing, promising that the bloc would continue to work to deepen cooperation with China in all fields.
