LEAD: South-East Asian leaders turn spotlight on South China Sea

By Ahmad Pathoni Nov 17, 2011, 10:13 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 in his opening speech that ASEAN had successfully built 'comfort zones' for countries to resolve disputes peacefully.

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.

The United States has weighed in on the dispute, saying it has a national interest in freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

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.

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

In a move 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.

But Philippine Communications Minister Ricky Karandang welcomed the move, saying the US presence in Asia would serve as 'a stabilizing force.'

In Bali, ASEAN leaders 'endorsed' Mynamar's request to be the group's chair in 2014, Myanmar Information Minister Kyaw Hsen said.

The chair is rotated every year in an alphabetical order, but Myanmar was skipped in 2006 because of pressure over its poor human rights record.

But the military junta in 2010 held its first election in 20 years and released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after years of house arrest. The country's new government released more than 316 political prisoners in May and October.

But New York-based Human Rights Watch said Myanmar did not deserve any reward yet, pointing out that an estimated 1,669 political prisoners remain behind bars in the country.

'ASEAN should tell the Burmese government to stop using political prisoners as bargaining chips to deflect international pressure,' the groups deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson said, using Myanmar's former name.

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.

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