South China Sea under spotlight during ASEAN meeting
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday reiterated that the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting is not the platform to discuss South China Sea issues.
Tensions over the South China Sea are expected to overshadow the annual meeting, despite Wang's remark on Monday that the multilateral meeting is not the appropriate forum to discuss the matter.
Wang on Monday criticized "non-regional" countries for interfering in the talks. He said China and ASEAN agreed that South China Sea disputes would be resolved through discussions between the countries directly involved.
"ASEAN can and should play a vital part in effecting an amicable settlement" on the South China Sea, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said in his opening remarks at the opening ceremony on Tuesday.
He later told reporters that the foreign ministers "discussed ways to address erosion of trust and confidence among parties following recent developments in the South China Sea, including land reclamation, as well as escalation of tensions on the ground," AFP reported.
Albert Del Rosario, Foreign Minister of the Philippines, accused Beijing of "massive reclamation activities" during Tuesday's meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers, according to a transcript of his remarks obtained by AFP.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday also talked about tensions in Asia during a speech in Singapore. He said that the U.S. wanted a region where "countries cooperate to prevent small disputes from growing into large ones," reported Reuters.
Wang and Kerry will join foreign ministers from the 10 members of the ASEAN on Wednesday for the summit.
Wang is expected to meet Kerry on Wednesday morning on the sidelines of the meeting, which ends Friday.
Direct dialogue
"South China Sea conflicts don't involve ASEAN, so it's not appropriate to bring the issue up at the summit," Chen Fengjun, an international relations expert at the School of International Relations of Peking University, told the Global Times.
"The U.S. is trying to hijack the occasion of the ASEAN meeting to stir up conflicts," he said.
Also on Tuesday, Wang confirmed that China and ASEAN have agreed to set up two hotlines for maritime search and rescue and tackle emergencies in the South China Sea.
Shen Shishun, an expert in Asia-Pacific studies at the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), believes that such cooperation in non-traditional and less sensitive fields could boost mutual trust between China and ASEAN, which could lead to further cooperation.
"There may be conflicts among South China Sea fishermen as they might not be aware of territorial boundaries. This system will aid diplomatic exchanges in such cases," Shen said.
The 10-nation bloc is expected to focus on the establishment of the ASEAN Community by the end of this year. The ASEAN Community's Post-2015 Vision, the bloc's roadmap for the next 10 years, is also expected to be adopted this year.
Third force in Asia
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Tuesday that the ASEAN bloc is on course to become the world's fourth-largest economy by 2050, after the U.S., the European Union and China, and could likely emerge as a "third force" in Asia.
"It is timely for ASEAN's united voice to be heard more frequently at multilateral fora," he said, citing global issues such as the rise of radicalization and extremism, and irregular movements of people, which cannot be resolved by one nation alone, quoted the Xinhua News Agency.
Shen, the CIIS expert, sees great potential in ASEAN, despite economic development of individual members and the bonds between them not being as strong as some regional organizations, such as the EU.
"Cooperation and common prosperity is an ASEAN priority. As the world is on a path toward multi-polar order, ASEAN has vast potential in contributing to the world's economic development," Shen noted, stating that there should be increased cooperation between ASEAN and China in developing the China-led "One Belt, One Road" initiatives as well as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
During a meeting with Wang Tuesday, Najib said that Malaysia fully supports the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative and the AIIB. Najib also said the country welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest and particularly participate in the development of Malaysia's manufacturing sector.
Wang also told reporters Tuesday that the forthcoming establishment of ASEAN Community by the end of this year will give fresh impetus to China 's "Belt and Road" initiatives.
A series of meetings will be held following the foreign ministers' meeting, in which ASEAN's dialogue partners, including China and the US, will take part and exchange views on regional issues with the bloc.
