ASEAN, China OK guidelines on activities in S. China Sea+

     NUSA DUA, Indonesia, July 20 Kyodo -
     The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China agreed Wednesday on guidelines that would govern behavior in disputed areas in the South China Sea, which analysts hope will help build confidence and reduce tension among claimant states in the contested sea.
     Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said after an ASEAN-China senior officials' meeting in Bali, Indonesia, that the two sides ''reached agreement'' on guidelines to implement a declaration of conduct among countries with overlapping claims in the sea.
     ''This is an important milestone document in cooperation among China and ASEAN countries,'' Liu told journalists, referring to territorial disputes in the South China Sea between Beijing and some ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines.
     With the agreement, the 10-member ASEAN is poised to prod China to start talks to establish a legally binding code of conduct to ensure the peaceful resolution of disputes in the sea. But China has been reluctant to enter into a binding agreement.
     Foreign ministers of ASEAN and China are expected to endorse the guidelines to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea -- which the two sides signed in 2002 -- when they meet on Thursday, according to Liu.
     ''This is a significant and good start for us to work together to continue dialogue and cooperation with a view to further promote peace, stability and confidence in the region,'' Vietnamese Assistant Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh said.
     Critics, however, said the guidelines include broad measures for cooperation among claimant countries, but not rules to avoid naval clashes in and around contested areas, especially near the Spratly Islands, claimed by China, Taiwan and four ASEAN members -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam -- and the Paracel Islands, claimed by China and Vietnam.
     The South China Sea contains some of the world's busiest shipping lanes and is believed to be rich in oil and gas.
     According to the document agreed Wednesday, China and ASEAN reaffirm the DOC ''is a milestone document signed between the ASEAN member states and China, embodying their collective commitment to promoting peace, stability and mutual trust and to ensuring the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea.''
     ''The decision to implement concrete measures or activities of the DOC should be based on consensus among parties concerned, and lead to the eventual realization of a Code of Conduct,'' it said.
     The guidelines said progress of the implementation of the agreed activities and projects under the DOC ''shall be reported annually'' to an ASEAN-China ministerial meeting.
     An official familiar with ASEAN-China relations told Kyodo News the two sides have agreed they would initially conduct six joint projects including maritime resource conservation and seabed exploration.
     The official said China proposed hosting a workshop on ''freedom of navigation'' in the South China Sea, but no details were immediately available.
     China argues the disputes should be settled bilaterally with other claimants, rather than multilaterally, and has urged the United States not to intervene.
     ASEAN, for its part, prefers to negotiate as a group given China's growing economic clout and increasing assertiveness in pressing its own territorial claims to in the South China Sea.
     At Wednesday's meeting, ASEAN and China agreed to continue talks on the process and convene a working-level meeting later this year in China, delegates said.
     It was the first time in five years that senior officials from the two sides have held talks exclusively on the South China Sea issue, according to ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan.
     ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
 with reporting from Varunee Torsricharoen
==Kyodo
2011-07-21 00:35:49