John Kerry warns on threat to Asian stability

By Ben Bland in Jakarta

John Kerry, US secretary of state, warned on Monday that the future stability of the Asia-Pacific region will depend on long-stalled efforts by China and southeast Asian nations to draw up a code of conduct to manage territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that the region’s future stability will depend in part on the success and timeliness of the effort to produce a code of conduct,” Mr Kerry said at a press conference with Marty Natalegawa, the Indonesia foreign minister, who has spearheaded efforts by the 10 member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to advance talks on the code with Beijing.

“The longer the process takes, the longer tensions will simmer and the greater the chance of a miscalculation by somebody that could trigger a conflict.”

Mr Kerry, who was in Jakarta on the final stop of a three-country Asian trip, had earlier called on Chinese leaders to pursue their claims in the East and South China Seas peacefully and abandon their more assertive approach.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and, after investing heavily in its naval capacity, has in recent years become more assertive. This has increased tension in one of Asia’s biggest potential military flashpoints and exacerbated nervousness in Washington about Beijing’s rise.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – all Asean members – also claim sovereignty over parts of the South China Sea, alongside Taiwan.

Asean and China agreed a preliminary declaration of conduct in the South China Sea in 2002 but attempts to formalise it into a code of conduct have made little progress thus far.

China has long insisted that it will only discuss territorial disputes on a bilateral basis, but Asean claimant states want to hold multilateral negotiations with their much stronger neighbour.

Chinese and Asean officials say that talks on the code of conduct are ongoing but there is no timetable for when it might be completed.

Mr Kerry praised Mr Natalegawa’s efforts to form a consensus in southeast Asia and speed up progress towards drafting a code of conduct.

“I urge all parties to follow his lead and accelerate the negotiations,” he said.


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