ASEAN, China agree to heed guidelines covering Spratlys

(Updated 11:26 p.m.)The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on Wednesday agreed to heed the guidelines on implementing the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). The agreement was clinched during talks among senior officials in Bali, Indonesia for the 44th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting. "This is an important milestone document on the cooperation among China and ASEAN countries," said China Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin after the meeting. The DOC provides a framework for future deliberations on territorial claims on the islands and ocean space in the South China Sea. It was signed in 2002 during the 8th ASEAN Summit. The Philippines proposed the adoption of an agreement entitled “Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship, and Cooperation in the South China Sea." The agreement would have opposed China’s claims on the Spratly Islands, which they call the Nansha Islands. In a text message to GMA News, a Philippine official clarified that the proposal was not rejected by the ASEAN. In its Joint Communiqué, ASEAN noted the proposal with appreciation and added that an ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) with maritime legal experts has been called to study the proposal. In a statement Wednesday, ASEAN said it "[welcomes] the offer of the Philippines to host maritime legal experts meeting in 2011, report to the SOM, and make recommendations to the Foreign Ministers prior to the 19th ASEAN Summit." Next September, legal experts will be sent to the Philippines to study the proposal and suggest an agreement that would differentiate the disputed from the non-disputed areas in the South China Sea. One of the central issues discussed in the Foreign Ministers Meeting is the dispute over the South China Sea that includes the Spratlys group, which China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines have claimed wholly or in part as their own. On Tuesday, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged ASEAN to come up with guidelines to the DOC, adding that “things do not necessarily have to be this slow." "We come in peace" On Wednesday, four members of the House of Representatives visited the disputed Spratly Islands despite opposition by Beijing and disapproval from the House of Representatives leadership. Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Brawner Baguilat, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, and Akbayan Representatives Walden Bello and Arlene Bag-ao set foot first on Kalayaan Island, the largest of the Spratlys, accompanied by AFP Western Mindanao commanding general Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, Palawan Gov. Abraham Mitra, and some members of the media.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said on Monday the visit would not affect bilateral relations between the Philippines and China, pointing out that trip was an initiative of the four members of Congress. “We come in peace, we support a diplomatic solution," Bello said. It was the first time a civilian aircraft landed on the remote Philippine island, according to a report from GMA News’ “24 Oras." During the visit, the Philippine Navy said it ordered a rectangular metal platform floating near an uninhabited atoll in the South China Sea removed, according to a Reuters report. A Navy boat towed the metal platform away from the Sabina shoal — roughly 110 kilometers off western Palawan — a day after a patrol aircraft discovered it on July 10. Sabban said the platform was an illegal structure under the Code of Conduct among claimants of the South China Sea. Since it had no markings, it would be hard to determine who owned it, he said. "It's well within our 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone," said Sabban when asked if it was considered an intrusion into the West Philippine Sea. Bello reiterated, however, that if other nations attempt to eject the Philippines from the island group, "Filipinos will not take that sitting down." Last June, the Philippines expressed “serious concerns" over sightings of Chinese military vessels in the area. Bello's group brought two Philippine flags, one of which was used in a flag-raising ceremony in front of a one-story structure that houses the municipal government of the Kalayaan Island Group, the Philippines’ name for the Spratlys, according to the Reuters report. — ELR/VS, GMA News