.
Akankah negara-negara Asia Timur ini dengan cepat akan melangkah lebh jauhÂ
untuk menjadikan dar al Kufr itu menjadi dar al Aman?
--
Tensions easing in the South China Sea?
By Katie Hunt, for CNN
July 1, 2013 -- Updated 0856 GMT (1656 HKT)
US
destroyer USS Fitzgerald arrives at the former US naval base in Subic
Bay, Philippines last month to join exercises close to the Scarborough
Shoal, a disputed area of the South China Sea.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* China agrees formal talks with ASEAN countries over code of conduct
* Move could ease maritime tensions in South China Sea
* But analysts warn there is no quick fix to the dispute
* They add China is likely to drag feet in negotiations
Hong Kong (CNN) -- China has agreed to hold formal
talks with its southeast Asian neighbors about establishing a "code of
conduct" to ease maritime tensions in the South China Sea, a major step
forward in the long-running dispute.
A statement issued after a weekend meeting of foreign ministers from the
10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China in Brunei, said the
countries "aim to reach a conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the
South China Sea, which will service to enhance peace, stability and
prosperity in the region."
The South China Sea is
home to messy mix of rival territorial claims, with China, Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam disputing sovereignty of
island chains and nearby waters. The areas in dispute include fertile
fishing grounds and potentially rich reserves of undersea natural
resources.
Asia's disputed islands -- who claims what?
However, analysts said the move was unlikely to yield a quick fix for one of
the region's biggest flash points.
Disputed islands buzzing with activity
Disputed islands in East China Sea
Stephanie
Kleine-Ahlbrandt, Northeast Asia Director at the International Crisis
Group in Beijing, said that it was a "positive development" and a code
of conduct was urgently needed as China steps up its law enforcement
patrols and military exercises in the South China Sea.
"It also provides
substance to Beijing's rhetoric that its relations with Southeast Asian
countries remain a foreign policy priority," she said.
"But this is only a first step, and there is a long way before an effective
code can be developed and implemented. Beijing has a record of suspending talks
as soon as
tensions with rival claimant countries flare -- precisely when talks are most
needed."
China has previously
stated that it wishes to deal bilaterally with disputes in the South
China Sea but a multitude of domestic problems, and the headway the U.S. is
making in the region as part of its "pivot" to Asia, means China's
new leaders have decided that now is not the time to press issue,
Kleine-Ahlbrandt added.
Speaking to ASEAN
foreign ministers on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he
supported a "substantive" code of conduct to deal with the overlapping
territorial claims. His predecessor, Hilary Clinton, repeatedly
emphasized the need for a multi-lateral solution to the problem.
"As a pacific nation,
and a resident power, the United States has a national interest in the
maintenance of peace and stability, respect for international law,
unimpeded lawful commerce and freedom of navigation in the South China
Sea," Kerry said, according to the Straits Times.
"As we have said many
times before, while we do not take a position on competing territorial
claims over land features, we have a strong interest in the manners in
which the disputes of the South China Sea are addressed, and in the
conduct of the parties."
Friction between China and the Philippines has intensified this year following
several naval standoffs, with Manila challenging Beijing's claims to waters off
the Philippines at an international arbitration tribunal.
Ian Storey, senior
follow at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, says a code
of conduct is a way to manage, not solve, the dispute and China is likely to
drag out talks.
It has already asked for the formation of an "experts committee" to advise on
the drafting on
the code of conduct that could slow negotiations, he added.
"Even at the end of the
process, the final agreement is unlikely to be this formal, binding,
effective and robust agreement that people are hoping to see. "
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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