KUALA LUMPUR: Asean is concerned with the land reclamation activities taking place in the South China Sea, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said.
In this regard, the matter would be discussed when heads of state and ministers gathered for the 26th Asean Summit on Sunday and Monday, he said.
“(The) South China Sea territorial dispute will be one of the topics to be discussed thoroughly,” he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) here yesterday.
Anifah further said that Asean considered territorial disputes as a very important topic because the South China Sea is one of the busiest shiping routes in trade between the West and East.
“We are also talking about the security and stability in the region,” he added.
According to reports, more than 100,000 cargo ships sail through the South China Sea annually.
International media had reported that construction work was booming in the South China Sea in an area whose sovereignty is disputed by six parties, namely China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
Among others the reports mentioned that according to new satellite images, China is making rapid progress in building an airstrip suitable for military use in the disputed territories.
Anifah explained that Asean’s stand was very clear and consistent, to see the implementation of the Code of Conduct (COC) and to speed up discussions on the code.
“This will give us a guideline on how we engage and behave in the South China Sea,” he said.
Anifah said that after this summit, Asean was expected to “know what steps to take” on the South China Sea dispute.
He said that Asean had not set any deadline on the implementation of the COC, pointing out that the discussions were aimed at speeding up the pace of negotiations.
“We want to tell our partners what we are going to do after the discussions (during the summit),” Anifah added. — Bernama