Philippines: Stand up to China

Land reclamation, control of South China Sea at issue

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- The Philippines on Sunday urged its fellow Southeast Asian countries to take immediate steps to halt land reclamation by China in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, warning that failure to do so will see Beijing take "de facto control" of the area.

Malaysia's foreign minister, however, said that the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations will avoid confrontation with China and continue negotiations with Beijing on a binding code of conduct that would govern behavior in the area.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said at a meeting of the association's foreign ministers that if China's construction of artificial islands on reefs claimed by other countries is allowed to be completed, Beijing will impose its claim over more than 85 percent of the sea.

China is "clearly and quickly advancing" reclamations, and the situation in waters that host some of the world's busiest shipping lanes is worsening, Rosario said. It is poised to "consolidate de facto control" of the South China Sea, he said.

Rosario urged the grouping to "stand up" to China by urging it to halt its reclamation work, which threatened to militarize the region, infringe on rights of other states and damage the marine environment.

He warned that China, which has been dragging its feet on the association's push for a code of conduct, will aim to complete its reclamation activities before it agrees to conclude the code. If this happens, he said, the code will legitimize China's reclamation.

"The threats posed by these massive reclamations are real and cannot be ignored or denied," he said. "ASEAN should assert its leadership, centrality and solidarity. ASEAN must show the world that it has the resolve to act in the common interest."

The association could have moved faster on the code of conduct, Singapore's Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam said Sunday. There was no specific consensus at the meetings, he said.

China, Taiwan and association members Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, which includes busy sea lanes and rich fishing grounds and is believed to have large undersea deposits of oil and natural gas.

The association has maintained a cautious stand in the dispute to avoid angering China, a key trading partner.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the group is "very much concerned" about the reclamation but that sending an ultimatum to China to stop work could backfire and hurt peace and stability in the region.

"It will be much appreciated if China can stop work and sit down with ASEAN countries to find a solution," he said. "ASEAN must send the right signal and make the right move. We must avoid any measures that are counterproductive either to ourselves or to China."

Officials from association nations and China are scheduled to meet in May and June to discuss the issue, he said.

The Philippines filed a case with an international arbitration tribunal in 2013 challenging China's claim.

Beijing has defended the reclamation, saying it is Chinese territory and the structures are for public service use and to support Chinese fishermen. Recent satellite photos show images of Chinese dredgers at work at Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, a feature also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan.

Disputes have escalated as China claims sovereignty over about four-fifths of the sea according to the so-called nine-dash line map it drew in the 1940s, and expands the reach of its military to back its territorial interests and challenge decades of U.S. naval dominance in the Pacific. The tensions risk overshadowing its trade and investment ties with Southeast Asia.

Anifah said that association leaders are expected to raise concerns over Chinese land reclamation at their two-day summit starting today and will seek to speed up plans for the code of conduct with China.

Anifah added that Southeast Asian nations should resolve their own "overlapping claims" before holding talks with China.

Information for this article was contributed by Eileen Ng of The Associated Press and by Shamim Adam, Manirajan Ramasamy and Greg Ahlstrand of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 04/27/2015

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