The WSJ reports, "on Sunday, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung accused China of “brazenly” triggering a maritime standoff in contested waters in the South China Sea and asked fellow Southeast Asian leaders to object to its latest move to place an oil rig in waters claimed by both Hanoi and Beijing. Six countries currently have competing territorial claims to the resource-rich seas, namely the Philippines and Vietnam, andconfrontations between China and those two countries have grown increasingly tense in recent weeks.
A statement from leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, whose current secretary general Vietnam’s General Le Luong Minh, attempted to send a strong message about the bloc’s commitment to peaceful dialogue, but that did not appear to appease Hanoi. As The Wall Street Journal’s Chun Han Wong writes:
Although Asean foreign ministers on Saturday jointly expressed “serious concerns” over the latest confrontation, they shied from directly criticizing Beijing, and reiterated calls for restraint and greater urgency in multilateral talks on a code of conduct in the South China Sea.On Sunday, many Asean leaders also didn’t blame China when discussing the latest tensions, diplomats said. A joint leaders’ declaration issued on the same day urged for peaceful dialogue in resolving disputes, without naming specific countries.Analysts say the differences in tone underscored divisions between Asean members who prefer a tougher regional response against Beijing’s territorial claims, and others who are reluctant to antagonize a powerful economic partner.
Little progress has been made since Asean and China first signed a declaration in 2002 that set out broad principles on conflict resolution in the South China Sea. While there have been periodic talks on drafting a so-called code of conduct, China says it prefers to dead with territorial disputes on a country-by-country basis. Its Southeast Asian rivals and the U.S. prefer a multilateral approach — though the Asean bloc adheres to a strict philosophy of non-confrontation and decisions are made by consensus".
