Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for the first time failed to issue a joint communique due to conflict among some of its members and a neighboring country – a move objected to by the Philippines.
The communique would have included Asean’s stand on the ongoing dispute among some member-states with China over ownership of the Scarborough Shoal.
“The Philippines takes strong exception to the statement made by the Chair of the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that this will be the first time that Asean is not able to issue the joint communiqué due to bilateral conflict between some Asean member-states and a neighboring country,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said in a press briefing Friday.
“The Philippines foreign minister had discussed the situation in Scarborough Shoal in several Asean ministerial meetings in Phnom Penh starting July 9 and we simply wanted the fact that the issue discussed, the topic discussed which was the Scarborough shoal, should be reflected in the joint communiqué. No more no less,” Del Rosario said.
The foreign ministers were in Cambodia from July 8 to 12 for the meeting, where they were expected to tackle a range of issues, particularly countries’ competing maritime claims over the West Philippine Sea. Cambodia was this year’s host, and this was the first time that Asean was not able to issue a joint statement.
Del Rosario criticized Cambodia’s position to not include bilateral issues in the joint communique, saying that the West Philippine Dispute involved four Asean member-states and therefore was not only a bilateral and regional issue, but an international one as well.
“But if you look at many of the issues that we have, all of them have a bilateral aspect to it. But in the case of Bajo De Masinloc, what’s happening there is it threatens the peace and stability and the freedom of navigation and the unimpeded commerce in the South China Sea,” Del Rosario said.
“And given the fact that in the South China Sea you have as many as 50,000 ships and more than half of the shipping tonnage that traverse those seas then it is not only a bilateral and a regional issue but an international one as well,” Del Rosario added.
Del Rosario said that several Asean member-states and the Asean Secretariat supported the Philippine’s objection to the Chair’s position, but only mentioned Vietnam as one of the countries that did so.
When asked about whether a pressure from China affected Cambodia’s position on the non-issuance of the joint communique, Del Rosario said that he did not want to speak for the Chair but at one point he mentioned “political reasons.”
“I don’t want to speak for the chair. I think that that question should be answered by him directly but at one point he indicated that he had political reasons,” Del Rosario said.
The Philippines and China, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims to areas of the West Philippine Sea.
Tensions over the area have escalated in recent months, with the Philippines and China engaging at a standoff in Scarborough Shoal starting April, and Vietnam protesting Chinese energy projects in the waters.
Del Rosario also said that the country maintained its position to solve the disputes in the area in a multilateral manner.
“The Philippines declares that the Asean consensus reached during the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) last June on the elements of a Code of Conduct on the South China Sea (SCS) already clearly underscores the fact that the Asean is pursuing the resolution of the dispute in a multilateral manner, and not in a bilateral fashion – the approach which its northern neighbor has been insisting on.”
When asked about if these tensions in Asean would have a negative effect on its plan to negotiate with China the key elements of its proposed code of conduct on the West Philippine Sea, Del Rosario said “I don’t think that has an adverse effect. I think all of us are looking forward to a discussion of those fundamental elements and we’re looking forward to an early beginning of those consultations.”
Del Rosario said that Asean member states have agreed on the key elements of the proposed code of conduct during the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) and the ministerial level meeting and that they have agreed to initiate discussions with China. He said he hoped that the discussions could be started as soon as possible for the development of the code.
The code of conduct aims to prevent clashes in the disputed area.
Meanwhile, Del Rosario said that they were still assessing the situation in the area before sending Philippine vessels back to the Scarborough Shoal.
“We are still assessing the situation. We are studying the matter and we will respond when ready,” Del Rosario said.
Del Rosario added that they received a report from the Philippine coast guard that there were Chinese speed boats and utility boats found in the Scarborough shoal.
He also said he had no information on reports saying a Chinese warship was stuck in a coral reef in Spratlys Islands, which the Philippines claims as part of its territory.
The Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian news website, reported Friday that a warship on Thursday “pinned itself” to a reef in Half Moon Shoal.
China calls Sratlys Islands as Nansha Islands, and also has competing claims over the area.
When asked about his reaction to the Chinese embassy statement accusing the Philippines of “causing trouble,” he said “I think that even when we were silent we were being accused of escalation and when we were responding we were accused of being the bully. Those are my humble observations.”
China, in a statement released by the Chinese Embassy Friday, urged the Philippines to “face facts squarely” and “not to make trouble” in relation to the dispute over Scarborough Shoal.
Del Rosario added that the tensions in Asean should not be seen as the start of the break-up of the organization, saying that Asean nations would still work together for the fulfillment of its goals.
“I don’t think that we should even think this is the beginning of a tear in the organization. I think that it just presents a bigger challenge for us to continue to build on what we stand for: leadership, centrality, solidarity,” he said.
“I think we have now realized that we need to work. All of us need to work together in terms of building this community that we’re targeting for in 2015,” he added.