Participants pose for a group photo before the China-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Vientiane, capital of Laos, on July 25 (XINHUA)

The South China Sea arbitration award hung heavy in the air over the recent 49th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Vientiane, capital of Laos. But far from being the elephant in the room, China and the 10 ASEAN nations issued a joint statement stressing the role of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in settling the maritime dispute. The group of 11 was also unanimous in reaffirming their efforts to promote peace, stability, mutual trust and confidence in the South China Sea issue.

On the other side of the metaphorical aisle, a different scenario was at play. The United States, Japan and Australia issued a joint statement on July 25 that seemingly targets China and stokes the fires of the South China Sea issue and regional tension. However at a press conference during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting on July 26, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States will not take a position on the arbitral ruling of the South China Sea arbitration case and supports the resumption of talks between China and the Philippines. Kerry said he hopes to now turn the collective focus of this issue to the question of how a peaceful and diplomatic resolution can be achieved.

Chinese observers say that most parties seemingly now understand that the arbitration does nothing but raise tensions on this issue and that peace and stability of the South China Sea is the shared aspiration of regional countries.

Negotiation not negotiable 

The former Philippine Government, headed by Benigno Aquino III, unilaterally initiated the South China Sea arbitration in 2013. The move is believed to have violated the Philippines' standing agreement with China to settle relevant disputes through bilateral negotiations, according to the DOC signed by China and all ASEAN members in 2002. China has rejected the arbitral result as a farce and considers it null and void.

Based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Manila's unilateral move also violated China's legitimate right to choose the means of dispute settlement of its own will as a state party of UNCLOS, Song Junying, a researcher with China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), told Beijing Review.

Against this backdrop, China refused to acknowledge the arbitration award. In a white paper issued on July 13, the Chinese Government noted that "the arbitral tribunal established at the Philippines' unilateral request has no jurisdiction over relevant submissions, and awards rendered by it are null and void and have no binding force."

In a seminar on the South China Sea held by the CIIS in Beijing on July 26, Professor Zhu Feng, Executive Director of China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea at Nanjing University, noted that instead of helping with the settlement of the South China Sea dispute, the arbitration would only escalate regional tension, as it serves the interests of some countries which look to antagonize China.

Fortunately, ASEAN, as a whole, is sober-minded about issues relating to the South China Sea arbitration and didn't want its Vientiane meeting to be hijacked by the arbitration.

In a joint statement issued by all the ASEAN nations after the Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the arbitration was not mentioned. In addition, the China-ASEAN joint statement said that countries are committed to the full and effective implementation of the DOC and are working substantively toward the early adoption of a Code of Conduct (COC) based on consensus.

"ASEAN members are cautious over the arbitration. They don't want to be coerced into a situation where they need to take sides. Rather, they believe the maritime disputes are purely bilateral issues," said Song.

Responding to a question about the China-ASEAN joint statement, ASEAN's Secretary General Le Luong Minh said, "ASEAN is for peaceful resolution of disputes ... and that ASEAN reaffirms its resolve to work with China."

When having bilateral meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, most ASEAN members also expressed support for bilateral dialogue in settling maritime disputes.

Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said that ASEAN and China should continue comprehensively implementing the DOC and promoting negotiations for a COC in the South China Sea to enhance mutual trust and maintain regional stability. Thailand expected the Philippines and China to resume bilateral dialogues.

Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told his Chinese counterpart that Singapore welcomes the Philippines to resume dialogue and consultation with China as quickly as possible.

Zhang Xinbo, a researcher of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) said at the CIIS seminar that maintaining the peace and stability of the South China Sea region is the consensus among regional countries.

His thoughts were echoed by Li Guoqiang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies (ICBS), who told Xinhua News Agency that peace and stability should only be maintained by regional countries.

Li added that the root of the current turbulence in the South China Sea comes from outside intervention. While outsiders may profit from regional turbulence, countries within the region will have to suffer the aftermath, he said.

In a show of optimism, observers believed that the South China Sea issue might move in the direction of bilateral talks.

Zhang claimed that the China-proposed "dual-track" approach complies with the spirit of the DOC and conforms to the interests of all disputing parties of the South China Sea.

The "dual-track" approach stipulates that historical disputes should be handled peacefully and properly through direct talks between the parties involved. Under the framework of the "dual-track" approach, parties directly involved can first discuss ways of putting aside their disputes, jointly exploring the South China Sea and effectively managing differences. Then the parties can seek a viable solution acceptable by both through friendly negotiation.

Community of common destiny 

This year marks the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relationship. To celebrate the event, China and ASEAN nations have planned a commemorative summit marking the 25th anniversary of this initiative in September. 

After the meeting in the Laos capital, Foreign Minister Wang told Chinese media that China and ASEAN nations have agreed to build a closer community of common destiny. The two sides have set six priority areas for further development of China-ASEAN ties, including the signing of a China-ASEAN treaty on good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation, fostering new platforms for sub-regional cooperation, as well as the implementation of the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).

Economic cooperation has long been a highlight of China-ASEAN relations. China is now ASEAN's biggest trading partner, while ASEAN is China's third biggest. By the end of May, their two-way investment exceeded $160 billion. Bilateral trade reached $472 billion last year, up from $7.96 billion in 1991, with an annual growth rate of 18.5 percent. The two sides, which signed an agreement to upgrade the FTA late last year, agreed to scale up bilateral trade to $1 trillion by 2020.

Meanwhile, the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China has injected new impetus for China-ASEAN economic relations, as the Chinese initiative could boost infrastructure construction in ASEAN nations and help advance regional countries' industrialization and industrial upgrading, as well as expand their export-oriented economies.

The Chinese foreign minister has also said that China sees ASEAN as a preferred partner in building the Belt and Road, as well as in FTA and regional and maritime cooperation.

Last year, under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, big connectivity construction projects such as China-Laos and Jakarta-Bandung railways have been advanced. Song argues that the initiative has further enlarged the cooperation base between China and ASEAN, paving a way for a China-ASEAN community of common destiny.

Copyedited by Francisco Little

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