US official accuses Russia and China of blocking Asia leaders’ statement
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Russia and China blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit drafted by Southeast Asian countries, mainly over objections to language on the contested South China Sea, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday.
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“ASEAN presented this final draft and said that, essentially, this was a take-it-or-leave-it draft,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea and India all said they could support it, the official said, adding: “The Russians and the Chinese said that they could not and would not proceed with a statement.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Vientiane on Friday, the final declaration had not been adopted because of “persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement.“
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The U.S. official said there were a couple of issues of contention, but the key one was how it referred to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), going further than in the previous 2023 EAS statement.
However, the official said, “there was certainly no language that was getting into the nitty gritty of any particular standoff, no language that was favoring any claimant over any other.”
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea and has stepped up pressure on rival claimants, including several ASEAN countries, notably the Philippines. ASEAN has spent years negotiating a Code of Conduct with Beijing for the strategic waterway, with some ASEAN states insisting it be based on UNCLOS.
China says it backs a code, but does not recognize a 2016 arbitral ruling* that said its claim to most of the South China Sea had no basis under UNCLOS, to which Beijing is a signatory [the United States has NOT ratified UNCLOS].
According to a draft seen by Reuters, the proposed EAS statement contained an extra sub-clause over the 2023 approved statement, and this was not agreed to. It noted a 2023 U.N. resolution, saying that UNCLOS “sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.”**
Another sub-clause not agreed said the international environment, including “in the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, Ukraine and the Middle East … present challenges for the region.”
Chinese Premier Li Qiang told the summit Beijing was committed to UNCLOS and striving for an early conclusion of a Code of Conduct, while stressing its claims have solid historical and legal grounds.
“Relevant countries outside the region should respect and support the joint efforts of China and regional countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, and truly play a constructive role for peace and stability in the region,” he said.
Related:
Sergey Lavrov: In a nutshell, the final declaration has not been adopted because of the persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement, contrary to the decades-long practice of East Asia summits, which boils down to preventing the saturation of declarations with confrontational geopolitical narratives. For the past years, these declarations focused on practical cooperation in the economy, trade, investment, and the humanitarian sphere. It is obvious to everyone that the attempts to politicise these spheres of work are counterproductive.
Last year, we adopted the East Asia Summit Plan of Action. This year, we submitted a number of practical proposals aimed at implementing projects in the spheres stipulated in that plan.
The West systematically hindered these actions, demanding that we assume responsibility for all the deadly sins in connection with the developments in Ukraine, where the United States and its allies provoked a state coup and have been supporting the activities of the criminal Kiev regime since then. This is the main reason. The ASEAN nations fully realise that this cannot promote cooperation in the format of the East Asia summits.
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Question: Even before this summit, the US press wrote that the United States would try to put the conflict in the South China Sea and the conflict in Ukraine at the forefront of the debate. Did they succeed?
Sergey Lavrov: They tried, but the attempt met no response among ASEAN members. Participants from the pro-Western group, including Japan, New Zealand and Australia, echoed the US rhetoric, but this did not have any actual effect on the discussion.
In real life, the United States is building military-political alliances of a closed bloc nature. This policy is aimed at containing both China and Russia.
The South China Sea issue was raised quite often in participants’ statements. Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who represented Beijing at the event, reaffirmed his interest in having all issues relating to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea resolved on the international legal basis – specifically, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea – and in the framework of the ongoing negotiations between China and ASEAN. The parties have already adopted two statements on the principles that should guide their further work. They are now close to an agreement on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
Question: You have earlier mentioned that Washington blocked the adoption of the EAS final declaration. Nevertheless, does the United States really continue to use the East Asia Summit platform to fight Russia and China?
Sergey Lavrov: That is right. These are the goals of their current policy to promote a “free and open Indo-Pacific.” This is a paradoxical slogan, given that all practical steps taken by the United States and its allies are aimed at shutting out Russia and China and winning over as many ASEAN members as possible to their side. Washington is actively wooing the Philippines now. The concept the United States is currently guided by makes no mention of any “free and open” Indo-Pacific region whatsoever.
When the United States and its allies unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to ASEAN’s central role in facilitating cooperation in the region today, they were being dishonest, to put it mildly. In fact, everything they do is aimed at containing Russia and China. Everything that has been accomplished in the ASEAN-centric format over decades is being sacrificed to this goal now. That format was convenient for everyone and incorporated the interests of each and every stakeholder. So, the destructive nature of Washington’s actions in the region is obvious.
*Why China rejected the South China Sea Arbitration:
The South China Sea Arbitration did not rule on sovereignty, and China does not recognize it because the Arbitral Tribunal lacked jurisdiction. “The Arbitral Tribunal violated the principle of state consent, exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of the law. This is a grave violation of UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] and general international law, Wang said.” The UNCLOS is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. The Permanent Court of Arbitration is not an agency of the United Nations. The PCA rents space in the same building as the UN’s International Court of Justice.
**United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/78/69 was on sustainable development and marine conservation.
**Experts warn of Philippines scheming for ‘new arbitration’ on South China Sea + More
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