Ten-member Asean summit in Phnom Penh took place against the backdrop of increasing tensions over disputes in the South China Sea; the tensions are primarily on account of mounting hunger for energy by the emerging super power. From the outcome it is clear that the summit failed to live up to the promise. American analysts put the blame at the door step of the host nation – Cambodia, which they say proved its loyalty to China by refusing to play ‘the customary role of seeking an agreement amongst the participating nations’.  They cite as the give away to a Xinhua despatch which said Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has thanked Cambodia’s prime minister for supporting China’s “core interests.”

China is unwilling to make use of Asean as the forum for resolving its disputes with Asean member nations. It is, however, ready to enter into a dialogue with each one of the ‘aggrieved’   who on their part prefer a solution without coercion, without intimidation, without threats and without use of force, to paraphrase what the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said in a different context on the sidelines of the summit.

New York Times reports that Clinton urged Asean to adopt ‘a code of conduct’ for dispute redressal but the code did not materialise in the face of opposition from China with Beijing ‘willing to discuss a code of conduct only when conditions mature’. So at the end of the summit on July 12,  the ten-member group failed to issue customary joint communiqué and instead found itself divided into two camps  – one with countries like Cambodia who are tied with China and the other with countries like Vietnam and Philippines who are ‘willing to stand up to China’.

Beijing has since announced plans to add a military garrison to its recently established “city” of Sansha in the disputed Paracel Islands. The move has provoked sharp criticism from Hanoi and Manila. The city, home to a thousand Chinese, is designed as an administrative centre to bolster Beijing’s claims to the Paracel and Spratly groups, as well as the waters around them.

Vietnam has lodged a formal protest with Beijing. The Philippines government summoned the Chinese ambassador to the foreign office and lodged its complaint.  he U.S. is yet to comment on China’s plan. Republican Senator John McCain has termed the decision by China’s Central Military Commission to deploy troops on Sansha as “unnecessarily provocative”.

Besides energy reserves and rich fisheries, the South China Sea has strategic shipping lanes, which have brought the US into the theatre as an active player.   

– by POREG Team