Solidarity Vital For ASEAN In Facing External Threats - Envoy

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 (Bernama) -- Moving forward past its 50 years of formation, ASEAN has to take up the challenge of collectively facing external threats to ensure the realisation of a stable and secure region, especially in the South China Sea, said Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia, Dr Makio Miyagawa. The envoy said that the South China Sea issue was a litmus test case for ASEAN to prove its solidarity in confronting the issue effectively, as the regional grouping has played a pivotal role in reinvigorating dialogues for maintaining peace and prosperity in Asia. "ASEAN has created a multi-layered politico-security dialogue formulae, such as the ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum) and EAS (East Asia Summit), while very skillfully ensuring its centrality. All of them are worthy of admiration. "However, a grave security challenge to ASEAN (the South China Sea dispute) has loomed up over the horizon for the past few years,” he said at a luncheon hosted by the embassy on the occasion of the three-day 31st Asia Pacific Roundtable (APR), which ended here Wednesday. ASEAN, established on Aug 8, 1967, comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Not all ASEAN member states are involved in the South China Sea disputes. Claimants of the disputed areas are four ASEAN members – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam - and China. Miyagawa said that two factors were critical for a fair and sound settlement of the disputes namely settlement in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the principle of non-militarisation and self-restraint, that ASEAN leaders have already agreed in 2016. "Any legally-binding Code of Conduct (CoC) must contribute effectively to rule-based settlement of territorial and jurisdictional disputes in accordance with international law and not in any manner which undermines or waters-down the 2002 DoC. If the CoC, now under negotiations, fails to provide this concordance, all will wonder what merit exists in spending 15 years in its crafting," he added. The non-binding DoC or the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea adopted by the ASEAN member states and China at the 8th ASEAN Summit in Cambodia on Nov 4, 2002, among others saw the parties agreeing to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, through friendly consultations and negotiations by the sovereign states directly concerned. According to reports, China and ASEAN have agreed to a framework for a CoC in the South China Sea this month, after a meeting in Guiyang, China even though it has emerged that the code may not be legally binding as what is wanted by ASEAN. The envoy said that another challenge for ASEAN as it moved past its golden jubilee was the question of expanding its horizon to create a broader regional co-operation with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which was already overdue almost for two years. Miyagawa said that if this materialised, the proposed free trade agreement between the ten ASEAN members and six other states including Japan could further expand the scope of connectivity beyond the region as it worked as a vehicle to realise an expanded form of Southeast Asian Free Trade Area. RCEP is supposed to complete its negotiations by the end of this year. Together with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that some ASEAN members were also engaged in, the ASEAN market "potentiality will become gigantic" as both the RCEP and TPP promote a barrier-free, vast single market, and sharing of an extensive set of common rules. "ASEAN is flourishing economically and integrating politically. Nothing could be more delightful for Japan than the advancement of ASEAN, as Japan has continuously rendered support for its formation, economic foundation and political stability all through since its inception, and even days before its formation," the envoy said. ASEAN and Japan first established informal dialogue relations in 1973, It was formalised in March 1977 with the convening of the ASEAN-Japan Forum. ASEAN and Japan commemorated their 40th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations in 2013. -- BERNAMA