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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GPS Info who wrote (106032)	5/10/2014 4:56:37 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 219929

Asean Concerned Over South China Sea Clashes 10-May-2014 By Chun Han Wong NAYPYITAW, Myanmar--Southeast Asian foreign ministers agreed Saturday to jointly express concern over recent maritime clashes in the South China Sea, a move that reflects heightened worries of Beijing's assertiveness over long-standing territorial disputes in the region. The statement--which is being drafted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at its semiannual summit--comes just days after a heated confrontation between vessels from China, Vietnam and the Philippines in the resource-rich waters. "On South China Sea...the latest incidents are a matter of grave concern, " Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam said on the sidelines of the summit, which is being held in Myanmar's capital. "There was a unanimous agreement to that Asean has to take it seriously [and] has to issue a stand-alone statement." In the statement, Asean would "express our concern at the turn of events, and ask for everyone to act in accordance to international law, including the [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]," Mr. Shanmugam said. He declined to say when the statement might be issued. A joint declaration by the 10-member bloc, however, doesn't mean Asean would be taking sides in the disputes, which involve competing maritime territorial claims between China and some of its Southeast Asian neighbors, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. "Neutrality is not the same as keeping quiet," Mr. Shanmugam said. If the regional bloc were to stay silent on the recent clashes, "then Asean's credibility--which has already suffered over the last few years--would be further severely damaged." The islands, reefs and atolls of the South China Sea, and the waters around them, are claimed in whole or in part by six governments. Though the disputes have prevented thorough exploration, energy analysts believe significant reserves of oil and gas lie beneath its seabed. Asean has for years grappled with how to manage the disputes, and the countries seeking to toughen the bloc's collective response to China have in the past made little headway. Despite calls from Vietnam and the Philippines for a stronger stance against Beijing, other Asean members typically demur, reluctant to antagonize a mighty economic partner over territorial disputes that they have little direct stake in. Countries such as Singapore and Thailand, which have no claims in the South China Sea, have avoided taking sides in the disputes and urged restraint from all parties involved. In the case of Cambodia, a close ally of China, its officials have sided with Beijing in previous Asean discussions on maritime territorial disputes. Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com (my remarks - if Russians have done a land grab, to overtake NG and crude oil deposit in the Black Sea and the world stayed idle, then why China cannot do it in the South China Sea? - this is the sickening logic)