ASEAN AND CHINA ENDORSE GUIDELINES ON SOUTH CHINA SEA

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya

NUSA DUA (BALI), July 22 (Bernama) -- After negotiating for almost a decade, Asean and China today signed the guidelines for the implementation of the Declaration of Conduct (DoC) for South China Sea claimant countries.

The endorsement of the guidelines by ministers of Asean and China came a day after senior officials from both sides reached a landmark agreement in the matter, raising hopes for a peaceful solution to the overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

"The ministers of China and Asean countries formally endorsed the guidelines and also started implementation," China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said after the Asean-China Ministerial Meeting at the Bali International Convention Centre, here, Thursday.

"We are looking to the future. We want to be good friends, good partners and good neighbours with Asean countries," he told reporters.

China's agreement to the guidelines may be seen as a means of mollifying Asean to take the topic off discussion, before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's arrival later Thursday.

Clinton arrived here this evening for the Asean Regional Forum (ARF).

Based on the Asean draft, the guidelines on the DoC, among other things, state that the implementation of the agreed projects under the DoC, the services of the experts and eminent persons, if necessary, will be sought to provide specific input on the projects concerned.

Also, the progress of the implementation of the agreed activities and projects under the DoC shall be reported annually to the Asean-China Ministerial Meeting.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa welcomed the progress reached in the effort to solve the South China Sea conflict, saying that the next move needed to be taken was restoring peace and stability in the area.

China and several Asean countries including Brunei, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Vietnam are involved in overlapping claims over the oil-and gas-rich islands in the South China Sea, including Spratly and Paracel Islands.
-- BERNAMA