South-East Asian leaders turn spotlight on South China Sea

By Ahmad Pathoni Nov 17, 2011, 3:37 GMT

Nusa Dua, Indonesia - South-East Asian leaders gathered Thursday on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, turning the spotlight on territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Regional economic integration was also high on the agenda at the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), but the dispute between China and some member countries over parts of the South China Sea has taken centre stage.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said ASEAN had built 'comfort zones' for countries to resolve disputes peacefully.

'History has proved and attested that ASEAN continues to be an association that is mature, able to bring stability and ensure security in our region,' Yudhoyono said in a speech opening the summit.

China claims the entire South China Sea. Taiwan and four ASEAN members - the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam - also have overlapping claims to the territory.

Tensions have risen between China and the Philippines, which has called for a united ASEAN front against Beijing's increased assertiveness in the sea, a key shipping lane that is also believed to be rich in oil and mineral resources.

Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN, has expressed reservations about Manila's proposal, saying claimants should use a less confrontational approach.

The United States has weighed in on the dispute, saying it has a national interest in freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and open access to Asia's maritime commons.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged countries not to resort to force to resolve the dispute, while vowing to provide greater defence support for the Philippines, with which it has a defence treaty.

China insists the dispute be resolved with each of the claimants bilaterally, and has urged the US not to interfere.

In July, ASEAN and China agreed on a non-binding set of guidelines to allow dialogue and cooperation. On Wednesday, ASEAN foreign ministers began working on a more binding code of conduct in the sea.

US President Barack Obama was due to arrive in Bali Thursday to attend the East Asia Summit, a gathering of the 10 ASEAN countries plus eight other nations, including Russia, Australia and New Zealand, scheduled for Saturday.

China has rejected putting the South China Sea dispute on the agenda for the East Asia Summit.

Analysts said Obama's attendance, the first by a US president, signals an attempt to strengthen US engagement with Asia.

In a move that is seen by analysts as an attempt to counter China's growing assertiveness, the United States said Wednesday it would place 250 marines in Australia's northern city of Darwin in 2012, with numbers rising to 2,500 within five years.

Indonesia, which lies 500 kilometres off the north Australian coast, has expressed concern about the arrangement, with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa warning that it could create 'a vicious cycle of tensions' in the region.

In Bali, ASEAN leaders were also expected to agree to Mynamar's request to be the group's chair in 2014, despite concerns about the country's human rights record.

The chairmanship of ASEAN is rotated every year in an alphabetical order, but New York-based Human Rights Watch said clear benchmarks should be set for Myanmar as a condition for its chairmanship.

'Despite two general prisoner amnesties in May and October in which 316 political prisoners were released, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners of Burma estimates that 1,669 political prisoners currently remain behind bars,' Human Rights Watch said.

Myanmar's military junta in 2010 held its first election in 20 years and released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after years of house arrest.

ASEAN leaders were also expected to endorse a new economic framework that would bring the 10 ASEAN members together with Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

The framework consists of general principles of free trade areas that had been previously signed by ASEAN and the six countries and includes differential treatment for ASEAN's less-developed members Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, officials said.

ASEAN seeks to integrate the region as an economic, security and sociocultural community by 2015.