Speed up code, Kerry urges China, Asean

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives for a press conference at the Asean meeting in the International Conference Center in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. AP FILE PHOTO

NEW YORK CITY—US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday urged China and its Asian neighbors to resolve their territorial disputes over the South China Sea as swiftly as possible.

“Your region is home to the world’s busiest ports and the most critical sea lanes. So stability where you live matters deeply to prosperity where we live,” Kerry told a meeting with Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers in New York.

“That’s one of the reasons why the United States is so committed to maritime security, to the freedom of navigation on the seas, and to resolving the disputes with respect to territory and achieving a code of conduct,” he said.

“This is going to require respect for international law and unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea,” he added.

The top US diplomat urged the Asean members to “move as swiftly as possible to reach a binding code of conduct for addressing disputes, without threats, without coercion and without use of force.”

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including waters and islands close to the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Japan and Taiwan, greatly intensifying regional tensions in recent years.

Earlier this month, Beijing warned the United States not to support its neighbors’ claims to disputed islands in the East and South China seas, and to stay out of the rows. The Philippines calls the waters off its coast the West Philippine Sea.

US not taking sides

Washington has always refused to take sides, but is keen on seeing its Asian partners adopt a code of conduct for navigation in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Beijing has been reticent to negotiate with a regional bloc, though consultations with Asean on a code were held in China recently after years of delay.

Sino-Japanese ties have soured dramatically since Tokyo nationalized some of the Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims and calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea a year ago.

Speaking with The Associated Press at the United Nations (UN) on Thursday, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia, the largest country in Asean, said there was broad consensus on the goals for a legally binding code, but he declined to set a deadline for completing it.

He said the nations were discussing preliminary steps to build confidence, like setting up communication hotlines to cope with security incidents.

Without naming any country, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung spoke in stark terms Friday about the territorial disputes in the South and East China seas. “Just one single incident or ill-conceived act could trigger conflict, even war,” he told the UN General Assembly.

Over the past year, Japan’s coast guard says there have been scores of intrusions by Chinese vessels into Japanese-claimed waters near the islands in the East China Sea.

“The incursion by Chinese government vessels in our territorial waters is continuing, much to our regret,” Abe said Friday through an interpreter. “We have been dealing with this issue calmly and resolutely, and we shall continue to do so.”