EDITORIAL: South China Sea games ar

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: EDITORIAL: South China Sea games are getting dangerous

Editorial & Opinion 

EDITORIAL: South China Sea games are getting dangerous

NOW the Spratly disputes are turning inward, hitting the core of Asean.
Philippine President Joseph Estrada has said that his government will lodge a
diplomatic protest with Malaysia over the occupation of a rock in the disputed
area. Estrada's statement has changed the nature of political engagement among
the claimants other than China, which has so far remained benign. 

Philippine Defence Secretary Orlando Mercado seems to increase his country's
stakes every time he comments on the disputes. This time he said
reconnaissance
planes had spotted a newly constructed concrete platform on a rock about 1,000
kilometres Southeast of Manila. Both the Philippines and Malaysia have claimed
this shoal. He said Malaysia had built the platform with a two-story building
and radar facilities. 

Malaysia has said that it has sent scientists to the shoals in the disputed
areas to conduct research and has no intention of occupying them.
Certainly, no
one would take this statement at its face value. Before long, all the
claimants
would dispatch their own researchers, who are equipped to construct permanent
structures. In the earlier years, China used the same argument. Its structures
were for researchers and fishermen. Now look at what it has accomplished on
the
Mischief Reef. 

If Manila proceeds with the protest it will be the first time that an Asean
claimant has lodged a protest against another Asean claimant. That would
certainly raise the political temperature within Asean. In 1992, Asean
together
issued a joint declaration on South China Sea in the wake of worsening
tensions
between China and Vietnam over their disputes. The declaration urged all
parties to use pacifist means to settle their claims. Now it is obvious all
these calls have been in vain as claimants are moving to increase their
presence with permanent structures. They act as if those South China Sea
islands' ownership can be had on a first-come-first-served basis. 

One has to sympathise with the Philippines, which has tried unsuccessfully to
garner collective Asean support for its current diplomatic squabble over the
Mischief Reef. Over the past few months Manila has been highlighting the

potential threat of China's military-related presence on the disputed island.
But Asean has tolerated China's activities on the Spratlys for fear any
protest
would jeopardise its overall relationship. 

Both the Philippines and Vietnam have agreed to draft the regional code of
conduct for the consideration of Asean and China. If it is completed, and
accepted by all, it can serve as a guideline for claimants' conduct in the
South China Sea. In the absence of such a framework, China and Asean claimants
are trying to reposition themselves. 

If Malaysia and the Philippines quarrel over the disputed rock, it will
further
weaken Asean's solidarity, which is wearing thin anyway. It can directly
dilute
Asean's position vis-a-vis China in the ongoing discussion on the Spratlys. In
the last senior officials' consultative meeting in Kunming, Southern China,
Beijing was firm and unyielding. Only Manila and Hanoi spoke of their
problems.

At the moment, Asean cannot afford potential confrontation between two key
member states. It would be wise for the Philippines to conduct discreet
diplomacy with Malaysia. Any sign of disunity in Asean related to the Spratlys
would only be used to the advantage of non-Asean claimants. 


The Nation