ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, 15 Mar - ASEAN and China concluded the first round of consultation in Hua Hin, southern Thailand, on the Regional Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, which officials declared a success. Both sides have reaffirmed their desire to have the Code of Conduct as a set of general guidelines for managing the disputes in the South China Sea and developing the good-neighbourliness and friendly relations between ASEAN Member Countries and China.

In a friendly brainstorm session, officials of the 10 ASEAN Member Countries and China identified key elements that they would like to see in the Code of Conduct, which included the principles in the UN Charter, the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-Existence, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They also agreed that the Code of Conduct should include confidence-building measures and areas of cooperation, starting with those that are least controversial and easiest to implement.

The confidence-building measures that could be included are: consultations and dialogues, including those among defense officials, exchange of information, humane and just treatment of each other's nationals, and no new occupation of presently uninhabited features in the South China Sea.

The areas of cooperation that could be included are: marine environmental protection, marine scientific research, safety of navigation and communication, search and rescue operation, combating transnational crime, including but not limited to trafficking in illicit drugs and arms, and piracy. ASEAN and China agreed that the locations, scope and modalities of cooperation in these areas should be agreed upon by the parties concerned.

Leader of the Chinese delegation, Mrs. Yang Yangyi, Counsellor of the Asian Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, said she “enjoyed the friendly consultation” and looked forward to meeting her ASEAN colleagues to continue the consultation on this issue in the near future.

The ASEAN side was led by Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Deputy Director-General of the Department of East Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. Mr. Sihasak described the outcome of the consultation as a “progress” with both sides seeing eye to eye on many issues, especially on the common objective of having the Code of Conduct as a political document to show the world community that ASEAN and China are very capable of developing their friendly relations and managing their differences. He underlined the understanding between ASEAN and China that the Code of Conduct would not be taken as a legal instrument to resolve the existing disputes in the South China Sea.

As a follow-up to the consultation, the forthcoming ASEAN-China Senior Officials Consultation, scheduled in Kuching, Malaysia, on 25-26 April 2000, is expected to look into the outcome of the Hua Hin consultation and give further guidance on how the concerned officials from both sides shall move forward.