US Agrees South China Sea CoC Must Be Ready Before 2015 East Asia Summit

By Minggu Simon Lhasa BANGKOK (Thailand), May 15 (Bernama) -- The United States (US) shares the growing view in the region that a binding code of conduct should be completed in time for the 2015 East Asia Summit in Malaysia later this year. All disputes over claims in the South China Sea should be pursued, addressed and resolved peacefully, said US Department of State Assistant Secretary Daniel Russel during a May 13 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Maritime Issues in East Asia. He said in the US view, there were several acceptable ways for claimants to handle such disputes. In the first instance, claimants should use negotiations to try and resolve the competing sovereignty claims over land features and competing claims to maritime resources, he added. However, the fact remained that if every claimant continued to hold a position that their respective territorial and maritime claims were "indisputable," that left parties with very little room for compromise, noted Russel. Another reasonable option would be for claimants to submit their maritime claims to arbitration by a neutral third party to assess the validity of their claims. The Philippines, for example, is seeking clarification from an international tribunal on the validity of China's nine-dash line as a maritime claim under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, as well as greater clarity over what types of maritime entitlements certain geographic features in the South China Sea are actually allowed. This approach is not intended to resolve the underlying sovereignty dispute, but rather could help provide greater clarity to existing claims and open the path to other peaceful solutions. Short of actually resolving the disputes, there was another option which past Chinese leaders had called for - namely, a modus vivendi between the parties for an indefinite period or until a more favorable climate for negotiations could be established, said Russel. In the case of the South China Sea, this could be achieved by any number of mechanisms, including, as a first step, a detailed and binding meaningful ASEAN-China Code of Conduct, he said. "But for any claimant to advance its claims through the threat or use of force or by other forms of coercion was patently unacceptable. "ASEAN claimant states have indicated that their South China Sea maritime claims derived from land features. "Beijing, however, has yet to provide the international community with such a clarification of how its claims comport with international law," he said. Russel said the US could and did play an active role in the South China Sea to defend national interests and international legal principles. He said US engagement in regional fora had been crucial in placing the South China Sea and maritime cooperation at the top of the agenda in the region's multilateral fora. --BERNAMA