News Story: Australia, Japan and India Look to South China Sea

HMAS Adelaide and her escorts leave Sydney for Exercises

By Noel Tarrazona

Three major countries in the Asia Pacific region are expected to continue to make their naval presence felt in the South China Sea amid the Philippine’s softening sovereignty stance in the disputed waters. 

Australia, Japan and India are all making moves in the region at a time when the Philippines is softening its stance, collaborating with China in oil and gas exploration and accepting the increasing presence of Chinese vessels within its exclusive economic zone.

Tokyo has just announced that  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held an exclusive security meeting with India’s leader Narendra Modi to finalize a maritime security cooperation deal in response to the growing naval presence of China in the South China Sea.

With this development, the Indian external affairs ministry along with Japan’s counterpart  met with  U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in New York to discuss how to assert the freedom of navigation and respect for international law in the global maritime.

Earliser this year, Japan has sent a helicopter-carrying warship into the South China Sea after making a port call in Vietnam, and the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore has noted that Japan plans to continue to deploy  low-key patrols in Southeast Asia waters. Institute analyst Le Hong Hiep says that India is also looking at Vietnam as its entry point for establishing presence in the South China Sea. 

Read the full story at MarEx

News Story: Vietnam, Japan want effective COC in East (South China) Sea

Tokyo (VNA) – Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Defence Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Japanese counterpart Ro Manabe agreed at a meeting on September 12 that the China-ASEAN Code of Conduct (COC) on the East (South China) Sea should be effective and legally binding. 

At their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 9th ASEAN-Japan Defence Vice-Ministerial Forum in Fukuoka, Japan, the Japanese Deputy Defence Minister lauded the growing defence cooperation between Japan ASEAN nations, including Vietnam.

He proposed an informal meeting between the Japanese Defence Minister and ASEAN counterparts be organised in the framework of the upcoming ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM-plus) in October, saying that such a meeting will help intensify the ties between Japan and ASEAN nations, and create an opportunity for the new Japanese Defence Minister to get acquainted with ASEAN partners.

Ro Manabe noted that Japan is very interested in the negotiations to finalise the China-ASEAN Code of Conduct (COC), adding that Japan wants to cooperate with Vietnam in maintaining peace and security and ensuring maritime security in the East Sea.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Report: Disputed Asian Sea Fails Despite 2 Decades of Discussion

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — Countries with competing claims to the South China Sea have failed to start joint resource projects with the strongest one, China, despite discussions over the past two decades, as they fear unequal results or a loss of sovereignty.

Front-line countries in Southeast Asia worry they would take a minor role compared to China or end up ceding marine resources because China is bigger and more advanced.

“Other countries are still expecting Beijing to be more of a responsible stakeholder in terms of their performance and behavior in the South China Sea,” said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan.

China in turn may suspect that domestic politics in a democratic country such as the Philippines could disrupt a deal, experts say.

News Story: ASEAN, Chinese officials, maritime experts to convene in Manila to discuss cooperation - Manila

MANILA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Senior diplomats and maritime experts from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to convene in Manila this week to discuss ways to enhance practical cooperation in the South China Sea, the Philippine foreign department said on Monday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement that it will hold a seminar on Tuesday and Wednesday on the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea(DOC) that China and ASEAN inked in 2002.

It said the two-day seminar hopes "to build on the gains that have been achieved so far in efforts to build peace and stability in the South China Sea."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Can Proposed Code of Conduct in S China Sea Help Resolve Sovereignty Disputes?

South Asia and China need to adopt a legally binding code of conduct in the South China Sea, according to the foreign ministers of Australia, Japan and the United States in a statement following the recent ASEAN meetings held in Manila. Sputnik spoke with an expert, Carl Thayer, about this issue.

The ministers stated that ASEAN countries and China must refrain from taking any unilateral actions that could undermine the existing state of affairs and lead to increased tensions in the South China Sea.

They also called on the countries to avoid land reclamation and any further construction of outposts in the sea.

Radio Sputnik talked to Dr. Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor of the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defense Force Academy, about this proposed code of conduct and its effect on the situation in the region.

“ASEAN and China have just agreed to a framework for that code. They set out a timetable, that they will approve it and further it in August and commence consultations in November to draw up the code of conduct,” Thayer said.

News Story: ‘ASEAN under pressure on Souht China Sea issue’

By Pia Lee-Brago

MANILA, Philippines - The United States yesterday acknowledged that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was under “tremendous” pressure on the South China Sea issue.

Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the US Department of State, said ASEAN still “held on to its principles” by defeating attempts to drop “militarization,” self-restraint” and “land reclamation” from the joint communiqué at the end of the meeting in Manila.

“So the ASEAN foreign ministers’ joint communiqué, which came out at the end of the forum, contains language on the South China Sea, and that reflects ASEAN’s important role in strengthening the rules-based order that benefits all nations, both large and small,” Nauert said in a press briefing in Washington.


The US welcomed the ASEAN foreign ministers’ reaffirmation of the importance of freedom of navigation, noting that the US shared their concerns over developments that Washington considered to be “unconducive” to regional stability, such as land reclamation.


“ASEAN was under tremendous pressure, but still held on to its principles,” she stressed.


Nauert added ASEAN also stressed the importance of exercising self-restraint, including refraining from militarization of features in the South China Sea. 


The US reiterated that the July 16 arbitral ruling is binding on China and the Philippines.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: China accuses Japan of meddling in South China Sea issue - FM spokesperson

BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to Japan's defense white paper for 2017, saying Japan has made irresponsible remarks about China's marine activities.

In the white paper of more than 560 pages, Japan devoted 34 pages to unjustified criticism of China's normal defense construction and military activities.

Japan claimed in its defense white paper that "China has tried to change the status quo in the East China Sea and South China Sea based on its own assertions, and this has become a common concern of the region and the world at large."

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang accused Japan of meddling in the South China Sea issue, saying China has lodged solemn representations to the Japanese side.

Geng reaffirmed that the will of the Chinese government to safeguard national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests is firm.

He said conducting patrol and law-enforcement activities in waters off the Diaoyu Islands is China's inherent right and Japan is in no position to point fingers at those activities.

The Chinese side, carrying out normal sea and air activities in accordance with international law, relevant domestic laws and regulations as well as national defense needs, is beyond reproach, he said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: US, allies slow Beijing's South China Sea momentum

By Jim Gomez

MANILA, Philippines — With the rise of a friendly leader in the Philippines, China has been spared a vocal adversary in the disputed South China Sea. In the process, it has gained momentum despite last year's ruling by an arbitration tribunal that invalidated its expansive claims in the disputed waters.

The rapprochement between President Rodrigo Duterte and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, defused a tense standoff between the Asian neighbors last year at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, where China allowed Filipinos back to fish in October as years of thorny relations began to brighten.

As President Donald Trump succeeded Barack Obama, who had challenged China's assertive advances in the disputed sea, US allies wondered if Trump would press America's role as a regional counterbalance to the Asian powerhouse.

An annual summit of Asia-Pacific nations hosted by the Philippines over the weekend, however, delivered a reality check to Beijing.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his Australian and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the meetings in Manila of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. After their meeting, they issued a joint statement that blasted aggressive actions in the contested offshore territories — without, of course, naming Beijing directly, in line with diplomatic practice.

Nevertheless, China quickly voiced its irritation.

Read the full story at PhilStar

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (9-Aug-2017)

Jack Viola, Eliza Chapman, Jacqueline Westermann and Harley Comrie

Sea state

Russia has laid down the hulls for two new diesel-electric submarines to be deployed in the Pacific. The Varshavyanka-class subs, due to be completed in November 2019, are ‘primarily designed for anti-submarine and anti-surface ship warfare’. Submarines have become an increasingly important element of the Russian Navy since its rate of shipbuilding slipped behind that of other powers in the region, particularly China. Its existing surface ships are predominantly Cold War remnants.

China and ASEAN have adopted a framework for negotiation for a code of conduct in the South China Sea (SCS). The framework seeks to build on the 2002 Declaration of conduct for parties in the SCS and was hailed by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi as ‘really tangible progress’ in SCS negotiations. Many pundits do not share Mr Wang’s optimism and see the adoption as a time-buying measure from China. The adoption comes after Vietnam’s ‘kowtow to Beijing’ over drilling activities in the South China Sea last week.

The Chinese flotilla that conducted joint drills in the Baltic with the Russian Navy has now docked in Finland. The Finnish defence minister welcomed the arrival as a sign of Finland’s ‘friendly relations with China’.

News Story: China conditions for sea code talks vague, unfair - Analyst

By Patricia Lourdes Viray

MANILA, Philippines — Beijing's condition of non-interference by "outside parties" for the talks on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea to start causes concern as it is vague and unfair, a maritime analyst said Monday.

Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute of Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea, said that the given condition falls upon China to determine whether it exists or not.

"In contract law that is a void condition when one of the parties, the debtor of the parties, the obliger, can decide when the obligation can be complied with," Batongbacal said in an interview with ANC.

On Sunday, China Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the start of the talks for a COC may be announced in November as long as the conditions are met and as long as the situation in the disputed waters is "generally stable."

Wang may have been referring to the United States, which has been conducting what it calls freedom of navigation patrols in the area, when he said that the conditions include non-interference of outside parties.

Batongbacal said that "generally stable" could mean anything from China which would be an unfair condition to place on the negotiations.'

Beijing may be purposely setting such conditions to discourage the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from seeking support from external partners, the analyst said.

"Whether in terms of military, diplomatic or even commercial interests, China is attempting to discourage the parties from engaging external partners, and that I think is a bad sign because we know that the rest of the region, Southeast Asia, is very much linked in various ways to external partners," Batongbacal said.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: US, Japan, Australia Urge Binding Code for South China Sea

The United States, Japan and Australia expressed "serious concerns" Monday over disputes concerning the South China Sea, while calling for a halt to land reclamation and military actions in the area that could increase tensions or cause permanent environmental damage.

The three countries issued a joint statement after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono met in the Philippines on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meeting.

They called on China and the Philippines to abide by an arbitration ruling last year that invalidated much of China's territorial claim to the South China Sea, which is claimed in part by Taiwan and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

News Story: China sets conditions for talks on South China Sea code

By Teresa Cerojano and Jim Gomez

MANILA — China's top diplomat said yesterday that talks for a nonaggression pact aimed at preventing clashes from erupting in the disputed South China Sea may start this year if "outside parties" don't cause a major disruption.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the start of talks for a "code of conduct" in the disputed waters may be announced by the heads of state of China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations at their annual summit in the Philippines in November if Beijing's conditions are met.

Wang told a news conference in Manila that those conditions include non-interference by "outside parties," apparently referring to the United States, which Beijing has frequently accused of meddling in what it says is an Asian dispute that should be resolved only by the countries involved.

China's territorial disputes in the strategic and potentially oil- and gas-rich waterway with five other governments intensified after it built islands in disputed waters and reportedly started to install a missile defense system on them, alarming rival claimant states, the US and other Western governments.

"If there is no major disruption from outside parties, with that as the precondition, then we will consider during the November leaders' meeting, we will jointly announce the official start of the code of conduct consultation," Wang said.

The situation in the South China Sea should also be "generally stable," he said.

"China and ASEAN have the ability to work together to maintain regional peace and stability and we will work out regional rules that we mutually agreed upon so as to open up a bright future for our future relations," he said.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: ASEAN calls for South China Sea non-militarization

By Pia Lee-Brago

MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asian foreign ministers yesterday called for non-militarization and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities by claimants and all other states in the South China Sea.

“We emphasized the importance of non-militarization and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities by claimants and all other states, including those mentioned in the DOC (Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea) that could further complicate the situation and escalate tensions in the South China Sea,” the ministers declared in a delayed joint communiqué.

The statement said the ministers discussed extensively the matters relating to the South China Sea and took note of the concerns expressed by some of them on the land reclamations and activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region.

They reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the South China Sea.

They also cited the need to enhance mutual trust and confidence, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Gritty Talks Ahead as China, ASEAN Agree to Avoid Mishaps in Disputed Sea

Ralph Jennings

MANILA — China and a group of 10 Southeast Asian nations face tough negotiations on a code of conduct for avoiding mishaps in the contested South China Sea despite the endorsement of a framework for talks.

Experts say Beijing will oppose defining the scope of the sea, making the code binding and any enforcement that would limit its maritime activities, whereas the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will ask for those details as discussions go on. The deal has dragged since 2002, with China resisting for much of the past six years. China and ASEAN foreign ministers approved a framework code in Manila Sunday.

“If and when a code of conduct is finalized, we can rest assured that it will be diluted to a point where it does not damage Chinese interests in the South China Sea,” said Jonathan Spangler, director of the South China Sea Think Tank in Taipei.

Beijing claims more than 90 percent of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea, overlapping smaller tracts that Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines say fall under their own flags. The code of conduct would be aimed at avoiding accidents as the claimant countries fish, explore for oil and gas or develop some of the estimated 500 tiny islets.

News Story: China proposes three-step vision for COC consultation - FM

MANILA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- China has proposed a three-step vision to step up consultations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Sunday after he and his counterparts from ASEAN nations approved the framework of the COC.

All sides fully acknowledged the positive momentum that the improving situation in the South China Sea is demonstrating and expressed their approval of the framework of the COC which they believe laid a sound foundation for the substantive consultations, Wang told reporters after the China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

The ministers spoke highly of the achieved early harvests, including the establishment of hotline communications among senior officials of the ministries of foreign affairs of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states in response to maritime emergencies, he said.

All the afore-mentioned achievements testify to the fact that China and ASEAN have the wisdom and capability to properly manage the disputes, formulate a set of regional rules that we all recognize, and preserve peace and stability in the South China Sea, according to the Chinese foreign minister.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Related Link: ASEAN agrees to China's proposed initiatives to kickstart formal negotiations on COC

News Story: ASEAN foreign ministers endorse framework of COC in South China Sea

MANILA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) endorsed on Saturday the framework of the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea for eventual adoption at the ASEAN-China meeting on Sunday, a government spokesman said.

Robespierre Bolivar, the acting spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said, "The ministers endorsed the framework of the COC for eventual adoption at the ASEAN-China ministerial meeting on Aug. 6."

The framework, which was negotiated by China and the ASEAN, will help both sides move forward in negotiating an effective Code of Conduct, according to Bolivar.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Vietnam wants tough stand vs China, but Philippines reluctant

MANILA, Philippines - Vietnam is urging other Southeast Asian nations to take a stronger stand against Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, as a tense regional security forum in Manila began yesterday with North Korea also under fire over its nuclear program.

Ahead of the launch of the annual gathering of foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam made a bold play against China with a draft of suggested changes to a planned joint communiqué.

It set the stage for what was expected to be a fiery few days of diplomacy in Manila, with the top diplomats from China, the US, Russia and North Korea set to join their ASEAN and other Asia-Pacific counterparts for security talks starting today.

The meetings would take place as the UN Security Council votes this weekend on a US-drafted resolution to toughen sanctions against North Korea to punish the isolated regime for its missile and nuclear tests.

The US said it would also seek to build united pressure on North Korea at the Manila event – known as the ASEAN Regional Forum – and Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Pyongyang would receive a strong message.

But on the South China Sea dispute – one of Asia’s other top powder keg issues – there was far less consensus, with Vietnam resisting efforts by the Philippines to placate Beijing, according to diplomats.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: ‘South China Sea claimants will suffer if harsh to China’

By Helen Flores

MANILA, Philippines - People from claimant-states in the South China Sea will suffer if they take a hard stance with China, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said yesterday, as former diplomats and experts expressed concern over Beijing’s continued island-building activities in and militarization of the disputed waters.

“In the West Philippine Sea, our neighbors are also claimants. If we go harsh with everyone, our people will suffer – trade, direct foreign investments, tourism,” Cayetano said at the “ASEAN at 50: The Way Forward” forum in Makati City.

The Philippines under President Duterte, he pointed out, seeks to “build more bridges of understanding” to attain peace and stability in the region.

China claims about 90 percent of the entire South China Sea but this is being contested by Taiwan and four ASEAN members – the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

The two-day forum, organized by the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation for Peace and Development, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Stratbase ADR Institute, was attended by diplomats and policy experts from ASEAN member-countries as well as non-ASEAN nations, including the US, Australia and South Korea. 

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: South China Sea code framework skips dispute settlement

By Patricia Lourdes Viray 

MANILA, Philippines — The framework of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea will not serve as an instrument to settle territorial disputes or maritime delimitation issues.

Foreign ministers of ASEAN and China are expected to adopt the framework that will serve as an outline for a code of conduct on the disputed waters.

In a two-page document acquired by Philstar.com, one of the main objectives of the code is to establish a rules-based framework to guide the conduct of parties and to promote maritime cooperation in the disputed South China Sea.

Despite not being an instrument to settle disputes, the framework stated the parties' commitment to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other principles of international law.

The framework did not include the arbitral ruling of a UN-backed tribunal that invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea. Last year, the international tribunal ruled that Beijing violated its commitment under the UNCLOS following its reclamation activities within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

The framework of the code of conduct stressed "[r]espect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with international law, and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states."

Read the full story at PhilStar

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PacificSentinel: In other words it's a worthless piece of paper that will be ignored by everyone, what a massive waste of time.

News Story: South China Sea, North Korea, Muslim militants top ASEAN meetings

By Jim Gomez and Teresa Cerojano

MANILA, Philippines — Alarm over North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile tests, a tentative step to temper South China Sea disputes and unease over a disastrous siege by pro-Islamic State group militants will grab the spotlight in an annual gathering of Southeast Asia's top diplomats with their Asian and Western counterparts.

The 27 nations deploying their foreign ministers for three days of summitry and handshake photo-ops in Manila starting Saturday include the main protagonists in long-tormenting conflicts led by the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South and North Korea.

The Philippines plays host as this year's chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. It's an unwieldy 10-nation collective of democracies, monarchies and authoritarian regimes founded half a century ago in the Cold-War era, which prides itself for being a bulwark of diplomacy in a region scarred by a history of wars and interminable conflicts.

A look at the main issues expected to dominate the meetings:

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