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Activities of the Claimants

China

Chinese president visits Indonesia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Jakarta, starting his state visit to Indonesia, the first leg of his first Southeast Asia tour since he assumed presidency in March. Indonesia and China on October 3rd issued a joint statement, agreeing that it is the common responsibility of the countries in the region to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea. Entitled “Future Direction of Indonesia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”, the joint statement emphasised that Indonesia, China and other ASEAN countries shall work together to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), enhance mutual trust, promote cooperation, and maintain peace and stability in the East Sea. On October 4th, Xi, in the first address by a foreign leader to Indonesian MPs, made no reference to regional demands, echoed in Washington, that Beijing deal with the rival claims through multilateral talks rather than with individual negotiations. "As for the disagreements and disputes between China and certain Southeast Asian nations on territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, both sides must always uphold the use of peaceful methods ...to maintain the broad picture of bilateral relations and regional stability," he told MPs on the second and last day of his visit to Southeast Asia's largest country.

Chinese President started official visit to Malaysia

Chinese President Xi Jinping began his Malaysian visit on October 3rd, aiming to raise the two countries’ ties to a new height. He held talks with Prime Miniser Najib Tun Razak on October 4th to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern. A number of agreements and memoranda of understanding on cooperation were inked during President Xi’s three-day visit.

The Philippines

Navy begins developing Oyster Bay into mini Subic

Recently, the Philippine government dusted off old plans to develop Oyster Bay, a picturesque cove nestled in old growth mangrove forests and limestone cliffs in the western flank of Palawan’s central region. Defense officials are hopeful the decades-old plans to upgrade the naval facility into a major shipyard and naval facility will finally move. There has been an initial P500 million released to complete some major infrastructure components, including a 12-kilometer access road from the mainland. “We call this a capability upgrade,” said Commodore Joseph Rostum Peña, commander of Naval Forces West (Navforwest). Once completed, the facility would have an extended wharf to accommodate “at least four large naval vessels,” he said.

No bilateral talks with China

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III will have two working trips abroad this month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said October 2nd, but he will not have any bilateral talks with China, with which the country has an ongoing territorial dispute. Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokeperson, declined to categorically state if Aquino will be participating in any bilateral talks, saying the schedule has yet to be finalized. He also said there are no plans for the Philippines to have a bilateral meeting with China.

Philippines urges China: Respect rule of law

The Philippines will maintain a “positive, peaceful and stable relationship” with China despite the tension between them in the South China Sea, but urged Beijing to respect Manila’s maritime territory, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a speech released on October 1st. “I wish to stress that the Philippines is committed to undertake all that is possible to cultivate constructive relations with China in spite of these issues in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea),” del Rosario said during the 2nd Annual Dinner of the United States-Philippine Society in New York. “We maintain that our disputes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) are not the sum total of our relations.” But Del Rosario urged China to treat all nations, including the Philippines, “with respect for equality and sovereignty”.

Philippines opens bidding for new P18-B warships

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The Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) has earmarked P18 billion for two brand-new frigates for the Philippine Navy and opened the bidding for the ships. As stated in the bidding announcement, the contract for the frigate project includes a complete weapons system. Bidders are required to have delivered a project of similar scale in the last 10 years and will have to turn over the new vessel to the DND within 1,460 calendar days from the opening of the letter of credit.

The U.S. 

No consensus yet between Phl, US in military bases issue

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The Philippines and the US have yet to reach a consensus on 'critical' provisions of a deal that would grant American troops greater access to military bases in the country. After four rounds of talks, officials admitted on October 3rd that there are still gaps that need to be threshed out by the two sides. “While we have narrowed down the discussions to these substantive issues, there are still gaps in our positions. Both panels scrutinized all the proposals that were put on the negotiating table,” Philippine Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batno said in a press briefing. “There still needs work to be done by both panels so we can reach consensus on these provisions,” he added. 

China must 'play by the rules', Philippines must arm

China has to learn to "play by the rules" and the Philippines must sharply boost its defences to keep South China Sea territorial spats from escalating, two former US officials said October 4th. Speaking at the sidelines of a maritime security forum in Manila, ex-US defence undersecretary Walter Slocombe stressed that no one wanted to see a confrontation with China over territory. "We (military allies the Philippines and the United States) must find a way to defend our interests and our sovereignty, the rule of law and the proposition that issues like this are to be resolved peacefully and not by the threat of the use of force." He warned: "There is a real danger of an incident blowing up and becoming a source of a much bigger conflict."

US commitment to Asia remains despite shutdown

The US commitment to Asia remains undiminished despite President Barack Obama's absence from regional summits, Secretary of State John Kerry has said. "None of what is happening in Washington diminishes one iota our commitment to our partners in Asia," he said. He said the dispute with the Republicans in the US Congress was "an example of the robustness of our democracy".

Regional Snapshots

Vietnam, US hold sixth political-security-defence dialogue

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Vietnam and the US held the sixth political-security-defence dialogue in Washington DC on October 1st. Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc and US Acting Assistant Secretary of State Tom Kelly co-chaired the event, which is held annually between the two countries to discuss bilateral political, security and defence issues as well regional and international issues of common concern. At the event, the two sides expressed their pleasure at the strong development of bilateral ties in recent years, especially the two countries’ comprehensive partnership set up during President Truong Tan Sang’s official visit to the US in July. This serves as a basis for the two sides to continue making specific progress in both bilateral and multilateral cooperation in all fields, especially in politics, security and defence - the focus of their dialogue.

The 4th ASEAN Maritime Forum

The 4th ASEAN Maritime Forum (AMF-4) took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from October 1st -2nd. Addressing the opening ceremony, Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said ASEAN needs to strengthen maritime cooperation for regional prosperity and stability. It is urgent to seek measures for maritime security-related issues as trade activities between South and Southeast Asian economies greatly depend on sea routes on the Malacca Strait and the East Sea , he said. The Malaysian Deputy FM called for ASEAN members’ cooperation to prevent and manage any possible crisis which may cause losses for the regional economy. He also stressed the importance of maritime security and freedom, law enforcement, constructive dialogues and the peaceful resolution of sovereignty disputes in the East Sea in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

U.S., Japan to modernize alliance to counter 21st century threats

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The United States and Japan agreed on October 3rd to modernize their defense alliance for the first time in 16 years to address growing concerns about North Korea's nuclear program, global terrorism, cyber intrusions and other 21st century threats. The move to modernize the U.S.-Japanese defense alliance follows President Barack Obama's decision to strategically rebalance U.S. forces to the Asia-Pacific region following a dozen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Our goal is a more balanced and effective alliance," U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told a news conference after the first "2+2" meeting to be held in Tokyo. He was joined by Secretary of State John Kerry, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera.

China, Malaysia to Upgrade Bilateral Ties to New Level

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak have agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Xi Jingping says China supports Malaysia to be a driving force of stability and prosperity in the region. "We agreed to strengthen communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks, and committed to maintain and promote stability and prosperity in this region."

Commentaries & Analyses

China Runs Rings Around Asean

By Ian Storey

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Territorial disputes in the South China Sea are discussed regularly when leaders from the Asia Pacific meet, but they may not figure so prominently at East Asia Summit in Brunei. That's because Beijing has done a masterful job of using diplomatic bullying and diversion tactics to sidetrack the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Since China's new leader Xi Jinping assumed office late last year, Beijing has laid down the law concerning island disputes: While China says it remains committed to "peaceful development," it will not compromise its "core interests." Countries contesting China's claims will be dealt with assertively. Beijing has been true to its word. In January, when the Philippines unilaterally challenged China's expansive maritime claims at the United Nations, Beijing angrily refused to participate in the case, arguing that the dispute resolution body under the Law of the Sea had no jurisdiction to hear it. Since the Philippines' U.N. challenge, Beijing has punished Manila for its temerity by stepping up naval and paramilitary patrols around islets within the Philippines' 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and harassing Philippine vessels. In August it petulantly disinvited Philippine President Benigno Aquino as guest of honor at a trade fair in Nanning because of his refusal to withdraw the U.N. legal challenge. In line with its determination not to compromise its "core interests" in the South China Sea, China recently scored a diplomatic triumph over the ASEAN. It called on the disputants to agree on rules of behavior in a code of conduct, and on Sept. 14-15, Asean and Chinese officials finally met in Suzhou, China to begin discussions. In a tactical move designed to improve relations with Southeast Asia, in April China's new leadership finally gave the green light to consultations—but not negotiations—on the code of conduct. The two-day meeting in Suzhou was hailed as an important breakthrough, partly because Asean and China agreed in principle to set up a search and rescue telephone hotline (although quite how it will work in practice has yet to be worked out). The talks were treated as a sign of progress because they seemed to boost Asean's credibility as the manager of regional hotspots. In reality, though, China ran rings around Asean and successfully slowed down the pace of discussions. Critically, it is unlikely to ameliorate tensions in the South China Sea. As China grows stronger and more confident, it sees little reason to sign a legally binding and substantive code that limits its freedom of action in a body of water in which it believes "historical facts" make it the final arbiter.

The South China Sea and the U.S. role

By Walter Lohman                      

As Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to sit in for the President in meetings with ASEAN leaders, he should bring back the Administration’s more assertive tone of 2010 when Secretary Clinton laid down the law on the South China Sea in Hanoi. Indeed, the Administration should take it one step further. Instead of soliciting ASEAN’s careful advice on how to handle interaction with China, it should should press ASEAN to take tougher public stands and, specifically, to support the Philippines’ case. Instead of accepting limited-joint military exercises among the ASEAN countries, U.S. and China as part of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Plus and other region-wide ASEAN-centered mechanisms, the U.S. should press ASEAN to exclude China from exercises until it gets serious about resolving the problem. A code of conduct is only going to succeed by shutting down China’s options to simultaneously engage ASEAN on the code and reinforce its maximalist position. The U.S. can help ASEAN do this by better playing the dynamics within ASEAN. The blogosphere will settle down on President Obama’s cancellations. Doubts in Southeast Asia about America’s staying power will certainly remain. However, there are several other more fundamental realities that remain: US interests in the region, China’s rise, and ASEAN’s need for America’s reassuring presence – and divisions within ASEAN. All need to be taken sufficiently into account in the effort to secure American national interests.

China-Philippines tension: How to resolve?

By Carl Thayer

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Nearly a month has passed since the Philippines first raised allegations about new activities at Scarborough Shoal, yet no further information has been forthcoming. It is incumbent on the Philippines to provide further details to substantiate its accusations that China violated the 2002 DOC by placing concrete blocks in Scarborough Shoal as a prelude to construction. The Philippines’ allegations raise more questions than answers. Is there any better imagery to determine if the blocks are not rocks, as the Chinese claim? Why hasn’t this imagery been released? When were the blocks placed in Scarborough Shoal? If, as some analysts argue, the blocks form a haphazard pattern, what is the basis for the conclusion that they are foundations for future construction? China has been disingenuous in its dismissal of claims made by the Philippines. For example, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei responded to a question on this issue by stating, “what the Philippine side said is not true.” This phrasing makes it unclear whether he was denying that China had placed the blocks there in the first place, or denying accusations that China planned construction activities in Scarborough Shoal, or both. One regional security analyst, for example, has speculated that the concrete blocks were used as ballast by Chinese fishermen and discarded once they reached the fishing grounds at Scarborough Shoal. If this is the case, dumping concrete blocks would be an environmental not a security matter. China, which has physical control over Scarborough Shoal, should invite the world’s media and marine experts to visit Scarborough Shoal and make their own independent determination.

Philippines South China Sea legal case against China gathers pace

By Greg Torode

Manila has assembled a crack international legal team to fight its unprecedented arbitration case under the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea - ignoring growing pressure from Beijing to scrap the action. Any result will be unenforceable, legal experts say, but will carry considerable moral and political weight. The Philippines has invested a "huge amount of political capital in this legal gambit and it wants to ensure success regardless of the cost," said security scholar Ian Storey of Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies. "If the Philippine team submits a less than convincing case...this would be very embarrassing for Manila and put it right back to square one in its dispute with China. "Beijing would also be emboldened to pursue its claims even more assertively than it has been doing over the past few years." Manila's team is preparing arguments to show that the nine-dash line claim is invalid under of the Law of the Sea. They are also seeking clarifications of the territorial limits, under the law, of rocks and shoals such as Scarborough - all part of a bid to confirm the Philippines' rights within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Philippines' lead counsel Paul Reichler, a Washington-based lawyer with Foley Hoag, told Reuters that his five-strong team included British law professors Philippe Sands and Alan Boyle as well as Bernard Oxman from the University of Miami's law school. Independent legal experts have described the team, managed by the Philippines' Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, as "formidable", with deep experience of the arcane world of the Law of the Sea, a landmark document approved in the early 1980s.