Update | Beijing tells Asean to be realistic in hopes for South China Sea code of conduct
Foreign Minister Wang Yi says China is open to dialogue on proposed code of conduct, but parties should keep their expectations in check
All parties with territorial disputes over the South China Sea should have "realistic expectations" and take "a gradual approach" to a proposed code of conduct aimed at defusing maritime tensions in the region, China's foreign minister said in Hanoi yesterday.
Wang Yi , who wraps up a six-day visit to four South East Asian countries today, said Beijing was open to dialogue on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea (CoC), but warned that patience would be needed.
"Some countries are looking for a quick fix [to the disputes] and are hoping to thrash out a code in a day; this approach is neither realistic nor serious," Xinhua quoted Wang as saying yesterday.
The CoC involved multiple national interests and as such required a "delicate and complex" negotiating process, Wang added.
Analysts say Wang was referring to the Philippines's recent bid to take the maritime row to the United Nations in hope of solving it promptly.
One analyst believed Beijing did not want Manila to go to the UN. "It would attract too much attention. China would prefer to bind South China Sea claimants into a bureaucratic process that it can control, exploiting Asean disunity," said Alex Neill, a Shangri-la dialogue senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Previous efforts to discuss the CoC failed because of "disturbances" from irrelevant parties, Wang said, in a thinly veiled message to the US, a long-term ally with the Philippines.
