BANGKOK: The South China Sea should be turned into an area to strengthen co-operation, boost connectivity and firm up ties among regional communities, said Minister of Defence Mohamad Sabu.
He said the South China Sea should not be a place of conflict and squabbles between the super powers of the world but should continue to be safe, open and free to be traveled commercially by any quarter.
“The South China Sea should not be seen as a source of conflict among nations. Any action which threatens peace and stability in the waters will not bring benefit to any quarter but on the other hand it will bring loss to us (members of Asean) who are in this area.
“All super power nations should respect the peace in the South China Sea and ensure the trade passages are free of war ships and do not create tensions which will threaten any country in the area,” he told Bernama here.
Mohamad said defence diplomacy and discussions following international laws including United Nations Convention On The Laws Of The Sea (Unclos) were the best solutions.
“All parties must avoid from carrying out any activity or action which can complicate the existing situation. In addition, the presence of warships can contribute to a tense and conflict-risking situation among the quarters involved.
“In facing the issue of South China Sea conflicts, all 10 Asean members must be of the same tone based on Asean Centrality and Asean shared-interest,” he said.
He said Malaysia had consistently, in regional and international forums, highlighted the concept of self-restraint and non-militarisation of the quarters concerned in the South China Sea against using violence or threats of violence.
Asked on the latest development on the effort of China and Asean to create a code of conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea, Mohamad said Asean and China had held substantive negotiations through the Asean-China Joint Working Group on the Implementation of Declaration of Conduct (JWG-DOC) starting from last year.
He said the negotiations had brought to the First Reading of the Single Draft CoC Negotiation Text at JWG-DOC in July this year in Penang, Malaysia and it was one of the significant achievements towards setting up a substantive and effective CoC.
The subsequent negotiations had started in October in Da Lat, Vietnam.
“Through the CoC, the Asean nations and China pledged to implement activities to build and boost confidence especially among claimant countries in the South China Sea,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mohamad had expressed a view for China to continue sharing its prosperity with the Asean member countries so they develop and progress together.
In a meeting with the Minister of Defence of China, Wei Fenghe outside the Asean Defence Minsters’ Meeting (ADMM) here recently, he said the wealth and fortune of China, emerging as one of the super powers in economy and defence, which was prolifically overflowing, should be shared.
“Don’t repeat the behaviours of past super powers which did not bring blessings to neighbouring countries, but on the other hand, pressed them,” he added. — Bernama