BANGKOK, Nov 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The South China Sea should be turned into an area to strengthen co-operation, connectivity and ties among regional communities, says Malaysia’s Minister of Defence Mohamad Sabu.
It should not be the place for conflict and squabbles between the super powers of the world, and instead its waters should remain safe, open and free to be traveled commercially by any quarter.
‘’The South China Sea should not be seen as a source of conflict among nations. Any action which threatens peace and stability in the waters will not bring benefit to any quarter but on the other hand it will bring loss to us (members of ASEAN) who are in this area.
‘’All super power nations should respect the peace in the South China Sea and ensure the trade passages are free of war ships and not create tensions which will threaten any country in the area,’’ he told Bernama here.
Mohamad said defence diplomacy and discussions in line with international laws including the United Nations Convention On The Laws Of The Sea (UNCLOS) were the best solutions.
‘’In facing the issue of South China Sea conflicts, all 10 ASEAN members must be of the same tone based on ASEAN Centrality and ASEAN shared-interest,” he said.
He said Malaysia had consistently, in regional and international forums, highlighted the concept of self-restraint and non-militarisation of the quarters concerned in the South China Sea against using violence or threats of violence.
Asked on the latest development on the effort of China and ASEAN to create a code of conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea, Mohamad said ASEAN and China had held substantive negotiations through the ASEAN-China Joint Working Group on the Implementation of Declaration of Conduct (JWG-DOC) starting from last year.
He said the negotiations had brought to the First Reading of the Single Draft CoC Negotiation Text at JWG-DOC in July this year in Penang, Malaysia and it was one of the significant achievements towards setting up a substantive and effective CoC.
The subsequent negotiations had started in October in Da Lat, Vietnam.
‘’Through the CoC, the ASEAN nations and China pledged to implement activities to build and boost confidence especially among claimant countries in the South China Sea,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Mohamad also called on China to continue sharing its prosperity with the ASEAN member countries so they develop and progress together.
In a meeting with the Minister of Defence of China, Wei Fenghe, outside the ASEAN Defence Minsters’ Meeting (ADMM) here recently, he said the wealth and fortune of China, emerging as one of the super powers in economy and defence should be shared.
‘’Don’t repeat the behaviours of past super powers which did not bring blessings to neighbouring countries, but on the other hand, pressed them,’’ he added.
— NNN-BERNAMA