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India Favours Early Conclusion of Code of Conduct on South China Sea by Consensus

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Ministry of Defence
04-November, 2015 13:21 IST
India Favours Early Conclusion of Code of Conduct on South China Sea by Consensus

The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar today expressed India’s hope that all parties to the disputes in the South China Sea region will abide by the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, ensure its effective implementation and work together to ensure a peaceful resolution of disputes.

Addressing the 3rd ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM-plus) at Kuala Lumpur, Shri Parrikar said the situation in the South China Sea and recent developments there have attracted interest and concern. “This is natural since freedom of navigation in international waters, the right of passage and overflight, unimpeded commerce and access to resources in accordance with recognized principles of international law including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, are of concern to all of us”, he stated. He also hoped that the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea would be concluded at an early date by consensus.

Following is the full text of the Defence Minister’s address:

“I am honoured to represent India at the 3rd Meeting of the ADMM-Plus. My delegation is grateful for the outstanding hospitality extended to us since our arrival yesterday. I would also like to thank our host, Malaysia, for the excellent arrangements made for this meeting.

In a short span of time since its foundation in 2010, the ADMM-Plus has emerged as a compact and useful forum for discussing security issues among officials of the Ministries of Defence of our region. Our meetings at the level of ministers and other activities undertaken under the aegis of the ADMM-Plus are contributing to greater trust and confidence within the region.

2015 is an important year for the ASEAN. We congratulate ASEAN on its impressive achievements and wish the ASEAN Community greater success. 2015 is also the 10th anniversary of the EAST Asia Summit, whose membership footprint matches with that of ours.

ASEAN is at the heart of India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and is central to our dream of an Asian century. As neighbours and as countries belonging to the same region, India and ASEAN member states face common security challenges both traditional and non-traditional. The overriding priority for all of us is development and the transformation of the lives of our people. A peaceful and stable regional and international security environment is critical to our goal.

India has been working bilaterally and multilaterally with all the States represented here to enhance the security and stability of the region from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. Our efforts include joint military exercises in areas such as disaster response and humanitarian assistance, training and capacity building in areas such as navigational safety and cyber security, exchange of perspectives and cooperation on counter terrorism and support for ASEAN-led initiatives for security cooperation.

ASEAN has also led useful and constructive discussions in the past couple of years on the regional security architecture. India was pleased to co-host with Cambodia, the 4th Workshop on the Regional Security Architecture in July this year. We welcome the very useful and constructive ideas presented by Indonesia, Thailand, China, Russia, Japan and others and we share the common assessment that any future framework must be centered on the 18-member EAS as a premier leaders-led forum for dialogue on strategic issues thereby reinforcing ASEAN’s centrality in the evolving architecture. India would like to see a closer relationship between the EAS and the ADMM-Plus.

The five areas of cooperation that we have identified for work in the ADMM-Plus, namely, HADR, maritime security, military medicine, counter terrorism and peace-keeping operations – have progressed well through the mechanism of Expert Working Groups (EWG). India was honoured to co-Chair within Vietnam the EWG on the new area of humanitarian mine action last year. We look forward to hosting ADMM-Plus experts in the joint Humanitarian Mine Action and UN peacekeeping Operations Field Training Exercise in March 2016 in India in Pune. Going forward, we should give thought to future areas of cooperation and dialogue beyond the 2014-17 cycle. In this regard, I propose that we look at the welfare of ex-servicemen and veterans as an area of exchange of national experiences.

We are all concerned with the persistent threat of terrorism and radicalism. There can be no justification for acts of terrorism and we have to work resolutely to choke off recruitments, funding and arms for terrorists. We commend Malaysia’s initiative on Global Movement of Moderates and other efforts to combat radicalisation.

Maritime security is again a common challenge. The seas and oceans in our region are critical enablers of our prosperity. The situation in the South China Sea and recent developments there have attracted interest and concern. This is natural since freedom of navigation in international waters, the right of passage and overflight, unimpeded commerce and access to resources in accordance with recognized principles of international law including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, are of concern to all of us. India hopes that all parties to the disputes in the South China Sea region will abide by the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, ensure its effective implementation, and work together to ensure a peaceful resolution of disputes. We also hope that the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea would be concluded at an early date by consensus.

Let me conclude by assuring you, Mr Chairman, and all my colleagues in the ADMM-Plus our full cooperation in achieving the objectives we have set for this forum. We wish Malaysia all the very best with the Summits you would be hosting shortly.

I thank you for your attention.”
 
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TRUMP

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Reuters

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...sea-dispute/article20302038.ece?homepage=true

Trump acknowledged that China's position on the South China Sea was a problem

U.S. President Donald Trump said on a visit to Vietnam on Sunday he was prepared to mediate between claimants to the South China Sea, where five countries contest China's sweeping claims to the busy waterway.

Vietnam has become the most vocal opponent of China's claims and its construction and militarisation of artificial islands in the sea, through which about $3-trillion in goods pass each year.

“If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me know,” Mr. Trump said in comments at the start of a meeting in Hanoi with Vietnam's President, Tran Dai Quang.

Mr. Trump acknowledged that China's position on the South China Sea was a problem.

“I'm a very good mediator and arbitrator,” he said.

Vietnam has also reclaimed land around reefs and islets, but on nowhere near the same scale as China. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also have claims in the sea.

The South China Sea was discussed in Beijing on an earlier leg of Mr. Trump's 12-day Asian tour and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States and China had a frank exchange of views.

The United States has angered China with freedom of navigation patrols close to Chinese-controlled islands, which have been continued by the Trump administration.

In August, foreign ministers of Southeast Asia and China adopted a negotiating framework for a code of conduct in the South China Sea, a move they hailed as progress but one seen by critics as a tactic to buy China time to consolidate its maritime power.

The framework seeks to advance a 2002 Declaration of Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea, which has mostly been ignored by claimant states, particularly China, which has built seven man-made islands in disputed waters, three of them equipped with runways, surface-to-air missiles and radars.

All parties say the framework is only an outline for how the code will be established but critics say the failure to outline, as an initial objective, the need to make the code legally binding and enforceable, or have a dispute resolution mechanism, raises doubts about how effective the pact will be.

The framework will be endorsed by China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a summit in Manila on Monday, a diplomat from one of the regional bloc's countries said.

The next step is for ASEAN and China to start formal consultations and negotiations for the actual Code of Conduct, and the earliest that talks on this can start is February 2018, the diplomat said.

From Vietnam, Mr. Trump flies to the Philippines for a meeting with ASEAN leaders before he heads back to Washington.
 
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VIETNAM-CHINAXI

Chinese President Xi Jinping (Left) shakes hands with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang (Right) at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam November on Monday. | Photo Credit: Reuters

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...flicts-in-south-china-sea/article20379351.ece

Hanoi:, November 13, 2017 15:52 IST
Updated: November 13, 2017 15:54 IST

They agreed to “well manage disputes at sea, make no moves that may complicate or expand disputes, [and] maintain peace and stability on the East Sea,” the Vietnamese version of the statement said using Hanoi’s term for the sea..

Vietnam and China agreed on Monday to back away from conflicts in the South China Sea, in a move aimed at easing tensions over Beijing’s claims to most of the waterway.

The communist neighbours have long-sparred over the sea -- to which Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines also have partial claims -- through which $5 trillion in shipping trade passes annually.

China has built artificial islands and airstrips capable of hosting military installations in the sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.

Hanoi and Beijing agreed on Monday to keep the peace in the sea, the countries said in a joint statement during a state visit to Hanoi by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

They agreed to “well manage disputes at sea, make no moves that may complicate or expand disputes, [and] maintain peace and stability on the East Sea,” the Vietnamese version of the statement said, using Hanoi’s term for the sea.

Tensions flared earlier this year when Vietnam suspended an oil exploration project in an area off its coast that China claims as its own, reportedly following pressure from Beijing.


Relations hit rock bottom in 2014 when Beijing moved an oil rig into waters claimed by Vietnam, sparking weeks of protests.

On Sunday US President Donald Trump offered to use his negotiation prowess to help Vietnam resolve the long-simmering tensions.

“If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me know... I am a very good mediator,” Mr. Trump said on his own state visit to Hanoi at the tail end of his marathon tour of Asia.

But on Monday, China appeared to take a swipe at his offer.

“We hope non-regional countries can respect the regional countries’ efforts in maintaining the regional stability of the South China Sea, and play a constructive role in this aspect,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.

Mr. Trump was in Manila on Monday for meetings with the 10- member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and several other countries.

Later Monday China and ASEAN, which includes Vietnam, were expected to announce in Manila that they have agreed to begin talks on a much-delayed code of conduct for the sea.

China insists the code must not be legally binding, a demand to which Southeast Asian countries have so far acquiesced.

Vietnam had been pushing for the code to be legally binding but ASEAN agreed in August that it would not have any legal force.

China agreed in 2002 to begin talks on a code, but has delayed actually doing so while carrying out its expansionist strategy.
 
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