ASEAN Receives China’s Assurances on South China Sea

AFP PHOTO AND POOL/ERIK DE CASTRO

Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (left), Indonesia President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (second left), Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak (second right) and Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha link hands as they pose for a group photo during the 12th East Asia Summit on the sidelines of the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila on Tuesday. World leaders are in the Philippines\' capital for two days of summits.

MANILA, KOMPAS — The 31st ASEAN Summit concluded on Tuesday with the generation of several agreements on a number of issues, such the South China Sea dispute, terrorism, the crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, and tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in his capacity as this year’s ASEAN chairman, said that one of the progresses made at the summit was an agreement on the code of conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea dispute between ASEAN and China.

At a press conference at the end of the summit, Duterte said China had agreed to start the code of conduct (CoC) negotiations and would abide by any agreement made through the negotiations. He added that China also agreed not to curb access to the sea and air territory of the South China Sea.

Kompas journalist Benny D Koestanto, reported from the press conference in Manila that Duterte also revealed that the agreements between ASEAN countries and China were based primarily on their shared views on protecting their citizens. The CoC agreement could later regulate the conducts of member countries, whether they claimed South China Sea territory or not.

Another prominent issue of the summit was terrorism. Duterte said that worries over terrorism were reflected during the summit, with all heads of state raising the terrorism issue. “Every person is afraid of terrorism. The issue was raised by more than half of the meetings during the summit,” Duterte said.

With regard to the Rohingya issue, Indonesia and a number of countries participating in the ASEAN summit had encouraged that Myanmar and Bangladesh urgently settle the drafting of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

More than 660,000 Rohingya people had fled to Bangladesh to avoid the violence of Myanmarese military operations that had been launched in response to the Aug. 25 attacks by Rohingya militant groups on security posts.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said discussions on the conditions in Rakhine were held during the forums of the ASEAN Summit. Indonesia was also continuing to communicate with the Bangladeshi government on the MOU.

”The MOU notes are available in Bangladesh. Yesterday morning, I communicated with the Bangladeshi foreign minister to ensure its processing,” Retno said.

At the summit, President Joko Widodo hoped that the planned three points mentioned in the speech of Myanmarese State Advisor Aung San Suu Kyi — repatriation and humanitarian assistance, escorting and rehabilitating residents to their places of origin, and restoring peace – could be implemented.

The President emphasized that if the problem in Rakhine and the waves of Rohingya refugees continued, the crisis would worsen and could lead to side effects that would disturb Southeast Asian stability, including terrorism and human trafficking.

Suu Kyi’s promises

According to Retno, Suu Kyi had responded on these points by underlining the importance of finalizing the draft MOU on repatriation with Bangladesh.

She had even promised that repatriation would be carried out within three weeks of signing the agreement.

The Indonesian government also communicated with other parties that encouraged signing the MOU on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, including the United Nations.

Yesterday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a special meeting with Suu Kyi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit. He urged Suu Kyi to allow Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to return to Rakhine state.

US Foreign Minister Rex Tillerson, who was scheduled to visit Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Wednesday, had a special meeting with Retno on Tuesday to consult on the latest condition in the Rakhine crisis.

At the closing ceremony of the summit, the Philippines officially handed over the 2018 ASEAN chairmanship to Singapore. Leaders of the ASEAN countries also appointed Lim Jock Hoi from Brunei Darussalam as the ASEAN Secretary-General for 2018-2022.