By Clint Richards
All parties showed interest in conciliation, even if a COC was simply a prop to further dialogue.
This weekend’s ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyidaw was possibly one of the most cordial and constructive summits in East Asia this year. No real further movement was made on a code of conduct (COC) for the South China Sea, but neither was there the type of vitriolic finger-pointing seen at the Shangri-La Dialogue in May this year. The major attendant players at the forum (China, the U.S., Japan and South Korea), appear to have prioritized progress over confrontation for the time being.
This furtive attempt at conciliation was most evident in the meeting between Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. This was the highest level meeting between the two countries since their respective heads of state came to power, and while little was publically said of their informal meeting, the lack of antagonism is notable. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Wang requested Japan “make practical efforts to overcome existing political obstacles between the two sides.” Kishida also met with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, who agreed to enhance bureau-chief and ministerial level communications between their countries, stating “There has been more bad news than good news when it comes to South Korea-Japan relations over the past year.” Kishida almost certainly brought up the subject of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holding a bilateral meeting with the leader of each country during his meetings, although there was no public mention of progress on that front.
Read the full story at The Diplomat