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According to the annotated draft of the Joint Communique of the 51 Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers to be published in Singapore early next month, as seen by The Diplomat Ministers :
… noted with satisfaction that the ASEAN Member States and China had agreed on a draft COC [Code of Conduct] Negotiating text at the 15th Meeting of Senior Officials of the SEAN-China on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea [SOM-DOC] in Changsha, China, June 27, 2018.
An internal report of ASEAN on the 15th [19659002] SOM-DOC, also glimpsed by The Diplomat records the approval of senior officials on four points
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First, "all parties will keep the COC's unique draft negotiating text strictly confidential throughout the COC negotiation process."
Secondly, the COC's single negotiating text "will be the basis of the COC negotiations … [and is] a living document." All parties reserved the right to consult with their national agencies and submit new or revised contributions.
Third, the COC's single negotiating text will be submitted to the ASEAN-China Post-Ministerial Conference (PMC) to be held in Singapore. 2-3 August for the notation. The announcement that ASEAN and China agreed on the draft single negotiating text of the COC "will be reserved for the ASEAN-China PCM".
Fourth, senior officials agreed that there would be at least three readings of the single COC project. Negotiating text "of the ASEAN-China Joint Working Group on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (JWG-DOC). After each reading, the draft text "will be submitted to SOM-DOC". The JWG-DOC "will not be precluded from addressing COC issues in SOM-DOC for review and guidance as each reading is in progress." [19659007] It is likely that the first reading of the draft text The COC's sole negotiation will take place at the 25th JWG-DOC to be held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from 1 to 2 September and that the second reading will occur on the 26th JWG-DOC meeting to be held immediately after the 16th th SOM-DOC in Manila from 23 to 26 October.
What is the significance of the agreement between ASEAN members and China on a single negotiating text of the COC?
Recall that ASEAN and China began discussions on a code of conduct in the South China Sea after China's occupation of Mischief Reef in 1995. The two sides exchanged their respective plans of COC in March 2000 and agreed to prepare a text. However, they were unable to reach agreement on four major issues: geographic scope (inclusion of the Paracel Islands), restrictions on the construction of occupied and unoccupied elements, military activities in waters adjacent to Spratly Islands and the challenged fishermen. As a result, ASEAN and China then concluded negotiations on the DOC, a non-binding policy statement, in November 2002. The DOC states that "the parties concerned reaffirm that the adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea would further promote peace and stability in the region and agree to work by consensus to achieve that goal. "
It took two years of ASEAN discussions and China reached agreement on the mandate establishing the ASEAN-China Joint Working Group to implement the DOC.
At the first meeting of the JWC-DOC in August 2005, ASEAN presented a draft document. guidelines for the implementation of the DOC. The second point of the ASEAN project included consultations with ASEAN prior to the meeting with China. This turned out to be a stumbling block. Six more years of intermittent discussions and the exchange of twenty-one successive projects took place before the conclusion of a final agreement. ASEAN revised point two saying that ASEAN "would encourage dialogue and consultation between the parties".
In summary, discussions on the implementation of the DOC and the establishment of a COC are done between China and the 10 members of ASEAN. is. Prior to the 15th SOM – DOC in June of this year, there were several outstanding projects presented by individual countries and this turned out to be politically sensitive if it 's not an obstacle to conclusion. an agreement on a consolidated text. Now, each of the eleven parties has become involved in the COC's draft single negotiating text.
Although there may be light at the end of the COC tunnel, it should be noted that the full and effective implementation of the precedes before the COC can be implemented. The DOC calls for cooperation in five areas: protection of the marine environment; marine scientific research; the safety of navigation and communication at sea; search and rescue operations; and the fight against transnational crime, including, but not limited to, illicit drug trafficking, piracy and armed robbery at sea and the illicit trafficking of arms.
The internal report of ASEAN on the SOM-DOC of progress has been made in this area. The SOM approved the work plan on the implementation of the DOC (2016-18) and took note of the two ad hoc technical meetings held jointly with the 24th JGB-DOC on 1945 (19459012) . The technical meetings dealt with the protection of the marine environment and the safety of navigation.
Here too, progress is likely to be prolonged. The ASEAN internal report of the 15th SOM-DOC noted that "some parties have encouraged the convening of ad hoc technical meetings to enhance practical cooperation for the implementation of the DOC". The ASEAN internal report noted that "some parties have also reiterated the importance of moderation and non-militarization and refrain from any action that could exacerbate tensions in the South China Sea ". The wording of these two sentences indicates that the consensus has not yet been reached and there is still work to be done.
The Annotated Project of the Joint Communiqué of the 51st Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers has 29 pages, including 70 numbered paragraphs. Seven countries plus the ASEAN Secretariat have inserted 176 suggested changes. Thailand leads (30%), followed by Indonesia (21%), Brunei (16%), Malaysia (14%), the Philippines (10%), Singapore (6%) and Myanmar and the ASEAN Secretariat. 3 percent. Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam did not intervene.
The section of the South China Sea of the joint communiqué of the fifty-first ministerial meeting contains only two paragraphs. Three countries proposed a total of six revisions – Brunei four and the Philippines and Singapore each.
The first paragraph of the South China Sea section (item 65) reaffirms the importance of "peace, security, stability, security and freedom of air navigation over the South China Sea" and acknowledged the benefits of having the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability and prosperity. "This is followed by a call for" full and effective implementation "of It then notes that the ministers Foreign Affairs of ASEAN
… welcome the improved cooperation between ASEAN and China and are encouraged by the progress of substantive negotiations towards the conclusion fast an effective code of conduct in the South China Sea. (COC) on a mutually agreed schedule.
The text then mentions the satisfaction of Foreign Ministers that the ASEAN Member States and China have agreed on a single COC negotiation project. g Text "at 15 th SOM-DOC This paragraph contains an annotation from Brunei requesting that this sentence be deleted on the grounds that the ASEAN-China PCM is expected to announce, as it will meet after the 51 AMM AMM.
Singapore, according to the annotation, replied that the sentence should be retained because the 51st Joint Communiqué of WMA "will probably be published after the ASEAN-China PMC . "Singapore also noted that the agreement on a single draft negotiating text of the COC" is factual, regardless of the announcement made by members of ASEAN and China [foreign ministers]. Singapore, president of ASEAN, seems to want to attach a reference to the draft single negotiating text of the CCO at the levels of senior officials and ministers.
The text also took note of successful attempts of the telephone line to manage maritime emergencies in the South China Sea between Chinese and Chinese foreign ministries, ASEAN member states and operationalization of the Joint Declaration on the Application of the Code for Unforeseen Encounters At sea (CUES) in the South China Sea, this shows that progress has been made in two of the five areas of cooperation set out in DOC.
According to the annotation, Brunei has suggested that there should be some improvement. insert a new paragraph and a new text reading as follows: "We have emphasized the importance of building trust and preventive measures to strengthen, inter alia, trust between e the parties. "
The second paragraph of the section on the South China Sea (item 66)" took note of the concerns expressed by some countries activities [suggested insertion by Brunei] in the region, which eroded confidence and confidence, increased tensions and may jeopardize peace, security and stability in the region. Brunei suggested a minor revision in the following sentence
The final intervention, by the Philippines, suggested moving a sentence that referred to the ASEAN-China maritime exercise to come to an earlier section of the Joint Communiqué. In the first section of the joint communiqué, titled ASEAN Community Building, the Philippines also suggested moving point 8, referring to "full compliance with legal and diplomatic processes", in point 2 to emphasize the importance of the court arbitral hearing the case brought by the Philippines against China
The zero draft of the statement of the President of the Post-Ministerial Conference of ASEAN (PMC) 10 + 1 sessions with dialogue partners ( 2-3 August), also consulted by Diplomat verbatim reproduced the wording of the draft joint communiqué of 51 AMM on the COC's draft single negotiating text, then added these words "and encouraged further progress towards a COC. "
It appears that under the diplomatic direction of Singapore, as president of ASEAN and national coordinator of ASEAN for China, pr Progress is being made to develop the activities of e 2002 DOC, a prerequisite for the implementation of the COC. At the same time, Singapore has succeeded in attracting the attention of ASEAN and China Member States to the development of a single draft COC negotiating text on a line of mutually agreed time comprising at least three readings of the draft text. "Dealing with this 51st AMM contrasts with the cracks that emerged earlier in April when the section of the presidential statement of South China at the 32nd ASEAN leaders summit was reduced from seven to one to hide the differences This time Cambodia and Vietnam were remarkable for their silence.
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