Le Luong Minh, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said ASEAN foreign ministers expressed concerns in a meeting Tuesday over massive Chinese island-building activities that have escalated tensions in the area.
China recently pledged to start substantive negotiations on a “code of conduct” with ASEAN governing behavior in the resource-rich and busy waterways, but there is a gap between its pledge and the situation on the ground, Minh said.
“We are calling for the termination of such activities, which are of concern to us, and eroding trust and confidence among the parties, and complicating the very process of negotiating” the code of conduct, Minh told The Associated Press. “In the face of the situation, it is even more urgent for ASEAN and China to early conclude the COC.”
China, Taiwan and several ASEAN members — the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei — have wrangled over ownership and control of the South China Sea in a conflict that has flared on and off for decades.
Tensions rose last year when China began building artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, which the U.S. and Beijing’s rival claimant countries fear could impede freedom of navigation and overflights in a major transit area for the world’s oil and merchandise.
The disputes have led to deadly confrontations between China and Vietnam, and Washington and governments in the region are concerned that greater military deployments increase the risk of miscalculations and accidental clashes that could spiral out of control.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said ASEAN ministers called for more self-restraint in handing the dispute.
He told reporters the grouping is exploring the “possibility of putting in place preventive measures” to ensure that disagreements among claimants would not flare into a regional conflict. He declined to give details.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, however, said the activities were in Chinese territory and there should be no double standards on the issue, in reference to land reclamation work by other claimants. He said all parties should support China and ASEAN in speeding up negotiations for a code of conduct.
AP