As the US deploys more warships in Asia, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam are intensifying maritime disputes with China

The foreign ministers' meetings of the ASEAN Regional Forum held from July 10 to 12 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, centered on the situation in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific, with major powers and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations intensifying and complicating issues in East Asia.

The situation in Southeast Asia is very complex and sensitive, because the United States' strategic shift toward the Asia-Pacific is now in full swing, it has accelerated the adjustment and reinforcement of its military deployment in the Asia-Pacific region, and because maritime territorial disputes in the region are intensifying.

The Japanese government is trying to appropriate three of China's Diaoyu Islands by "nationalizing" them, while the Philippines and Vietnam, blinded by greed for resources and acting in collusion, have attempted to draw other ASEAN members into their bilateral disputes with China. At the meetings in Phnom Penh, they tried in vain to persuade the other ASEAN members to agree to a strongly worded document supporting them in their South China Sea disputes with China. At the same time, both have tried to introduce other external forces, such as the US and Japan, into the South China Sea disputes.

Meanwhile, the US is shifting its strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region and is seeking to dominate the Asia-Pacific agenda. The US Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta elaborated the US' new Asia-Pacific military strategy at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 2. Instead of the previously announced "return to Asia" strategy, he put forward a new formulation of "rebalancing": deepening and broadening bilateral and multilateral partnerships, enhancing and adapting the US military's enduring presence in this region, and making new investments in the capabilities needed to project power in Asia-Pacific. But the new initiative must include a basic set of shared principles - principles that promote international rules and order so as to advance peace and security in the region.

Panetta also announced that by 2020, 60 percent of the US fleet, including six aircraft carriers, will be deployed in the Asia-Pacific region. As for increased US involvement in the South China Sea, Panetta said the US supports the efforts of ASEAN and China to develop a binding code of conduct that would create a rules-based framework for regulating the conduct of parties in the South China Sea, including the prevention and management of disputes.

In response to the proposal by some ASEAN members that discussions should begin on a code of conduct in the South China Sea, China has expressed willingness to consider the proposal, but it has emphasized that a code of conduct can only serve to promote mutual understanding and trust in the South China Sea and it will not resolve the disputes. As the disputes are not between China and ASEAN or any other organizations, but between China and the individual claimants, they should be settled through nation-to-nation negotiations.

Japan is fully cooperating with Washington's strategic shift in an attempt to make use of the US as it tries to expand its jurisdictional waters by fair means or foul, and strengthen its illegal occupation of China's Diaoyu Islands. At the same time, Japan is stepping up its efforts to intervene in the South China Sea, and colluding with the Philippines and Vietnam to stir up trouble simultaneously in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

ASEAN consists of a number of small and medium-sized countries, which have become stronger by grouping together. Its members Vietnam and the Philippines seem to be using the significance of their geopolitical position in the competition between major powers to maximize their own interests.

Relations between China and the US, and China and its neighbors are delicately poised. China's neighbors are seeking to balance their need for economic cooperation with China and security guarantees from the US; the US seeks to strike a balance between supporting its Asia-Pacific allies and maintaining strategic cooperation with China. China must adhere to its stance of resolving disputes with its neighbors through nation-to-nation negotiations and seek greater cooperation with the US.

Looking ahead, the US, China and its neighbors should show more reason, patience and wisdom in order to maintain peace and stability in the region.

The author is deputy director of the World Politics Research Institute under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

(China Daily 07/21/2012 page5)