China offers olive branch to Asean

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN –  China offered an olive branch yesterday to Southeast Asian nations wary of its territorial claims, displaying its growing influence at another summit notable for US President Barack Obama’s absence.

Premier Li Keqiang called for peace in the South China Sea and expanded Chinese trade with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as he met the bloc’s leaders in the oil-flush sultanate of Brunei.

“A peaceful South China Sea is a blessing for all. We need to work together to make the South China Sea a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation,” Li said.

Li took the baton from President Xi Jinping, who underlined Chinese power by occupying center stage earlier this week at an Asia-Pacific summit in Bali while Obama was stuck at home due to the US government shutdown.

China asserts sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including waters near the coasts of its neighbors.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei -- all ASEAN members -- have competing claims to parts of the sea, and Manila and Hanoi have in recent years repeatedly accused China of becoming more aggressive in the dispute.

Abide by sea code – Noy

Also yesterday, President Aquino took a diplomatic tack and called on countries involved in the dispute to abide by the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea.

The DOC provides for the exercise of restraint and desisting from occupying areas with conflicting claims.

Without mentioning Panatag Shoal, Ayungin Shoal and even Mischief Reef that China had already occupied, Aquino called the attention of countries to the provisions of the DOC that China agreed to and which must be followed while a legally binding Code of Conduct (COC) was being drawn up.

He called on ASEAN and China to speed up the adoption of a COC.