Opinion | Asean summit unlikely to seal code of conduct with China
Regional summit this week unlikely to agree on code of conduct to reduce maritime tensions, and that will play into Beijing's hands
This week's gathering of regional leaders in Cambodia won't witness a breakdown in talks between foreign ministers over the South China Sea, as happened at their last meeting in July, but nor is it likely to see agreement on the issue.
Diplomats and analysts say a sense of drift has settled over efforts to forge a legally binding code of conduct between Asean nations and China to reduce tensions over the sea - and that suits Beijing just fine.
Asean's target of reaching an agreement this year will be missed, with Chinese officials having repeatedly stressed they will start talks on Asean's draft of the code "when the time is ripe". They also insist that actual territorial disputes in the sea should be settled one-on-one between China and individual claimants, not as a grouping - a clear advantage for Beijing.
As officials from the 10 nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met ahead of the arrival over the next two days of the leaders of China, the US, Japan, South Korea, India, Russia, Australia and New Zealand, Indonesian envoys warned of a "long road ahead" on the code.
After the Asean foreign ministers' meeting, secretary general Surin Pitsuwan called for a hotline between Southeast Asian countries and China to defuse tensions. "We can give it a sense of urgency that, if there is anything developing that we all will be phoned … trying to consult, trying to coordinate, trying to contain any possible spillover of any … incident, accident, miscalculation, misunderstanding," he said in Phnom Penh.
As the Chinese delegation, headed by Premier Wen Jiabao prepared to leave Beijing, Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Ying yesterday insisted the dispute was under control and China did not want it overshadowing wider talks in Phnom Penh this week.