In a Joint Communiqué
released in Myanmar on August 10, ASEAN Foreign Ministers expressed serious
concern over recent tensions in the East Sea and reaffirmed the importance of
maintaining peace, stability, maritime security as well as freedom of navigation
in and over-flight above the sea.
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ASEAN
Foreign Ministers stresssed the need to work on a Code of Conduct soon to
settle territorial disputes in the East Sea
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They reaffirmed their
commitments to the principles stipulated in the 2012 Statement of the ASEAN
Foreign Ministers on ASEAN's Six Point Principles on the East Sea, the 2012
Joint Statement of the 15th ASEAN-China Summit on the 10th Anniversary of the Declaration on the Conduct
of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and the ASEAN Foreign Minister’s Statement on
the Current Developments in the East Sea which was issued on 10 May 2014.
They urged all parties
concerned to exercise self-restraint and avoid actions which would complicate
the situation and undermine peace, stability, and security in the East Sea and
to settle disputes through peaceful means, without resorting to the threat or
use of force, including friendly dialogue, consultations and negotiations, in
accordance with universally recognised principles of international law,
including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The ministers further
stressed the importance of the collective commitments of ASEAN Member States
and China to peace, stability, maritime security and mutual trust in the region
and the need to create conditions conducive for the peaceful settlement of
disputes.
They agreed to intensify
consultations with China on measures and mechanisms to ensure and further
enhance the full and effective implementation of the DOC in its entirety,
particularly Articles 4 and 5 as well as substantive negotiations for the early
conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). They tasked their
Senior Officials to follow up on this matter.
They took note of the
Progress Report on the Implementation of the DOC to be submitted to the
ASEAN-China Post-Ministerial Conference, and tasked officials to work with
China to finalise the objective and structure and elaborate the substance of
the COC, including concrete elements which would promote trust and confidence,
prevent incidents, manage incidents should they occur. We also tasked officials
to work on a series of early-harvest measures.
They underscored the
importance of maintaining the momentum of consultations and expeditiously
working towards the early conclusion of the COC following the constructive
outcomes of the 7th ASEAN-China Senior Officials Meeting on the Implementation
of the DOC (SOM on DOC) held on 21 April 2014 in Pattaya, Thailand and the 10th
and 11th ASEAN-China Joint Working Groups on the Implementation of the DOC (JWG
on DOC) held on 18 March 2014 in Singapore and 25 June 2014 in Bali, Indonesia,
respectively. In this regard, they looked forward to more substantive
discussions at the 8th SOM on DOC to be convened back-to-back with the 12th JWG
on DOC in October 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The diplomats noted the
paper on the Triple Action Plan (TAP) introduced by the Philippines and other
proposals on Article 5 of the DOC raised by other ASEAN Foreign Ministers on
the East Sea.
Source:
VOV
