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Kinling Lo

China and Malaysia have agreed to set up a joint dialogue mechanism for discussing South China Sea issues at a time of simmering tensions between Beijing and its neighbours over the disputed waterway.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the plan after meeting his Malaysian counterpart, Saifuddin Abdullah, in Beijing on Thursday.
“Tensions in the South China Sea have dropped recently. Littoral states and China are committed to appropriately handling the South China Sea issue and jointly safeguarding peace and stability there,” Wang said.
“To this end, our two sides have agreed to set up a bilateral consultation mechanism for maritime issues. A new platform for dialogue and cooperation.”




Abdullah, who referred to Wang as “my brother”, said the mechanism would be managed by the two countries’ foreign ministries and that more details would follow.
The platform is the latest move by Beijing to find ways to settle disputes in the South China Sea on a one-to-one basis.
China has had long-running disputes with rival claimants Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, and the issue has also been the focus of rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Brunei and Taiwan also lay claim to parts of the South China Sea, which is one of the world’s busiest waterways.




In August, China sent a survey ship, supported by coastguard vessels, to the Vietnam-controlled Vanguard Reef in an apparent effort to prevent Hanoi from carrying out oil and gas operations in the area. Beijing used similar tactics off the Malaysian coast earlier the same month.
Meanwhile in Manila, anti-China protesters took to the streets in June after a Chinese vessel struck and sank a Philippine fishing boat, and following repeated passages by Chinese warships through waters claimed by the Southeast Asian nation.

Xu Liping, a senior research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Beijing’s agreement with Kuala Lumpur would help to ease disputes between the two countries and also contribute to overall peace in the disputed waters.
“There are two main aims for the dialogue mechanism: one is dispute settlement and addressing sovereignty issues, the other is boosting cooperation in areas like fishing and security,” he said.
“If China has better cooperation with Malaysia, then ultimately it will contribute to resolving and reaching consensus on issues with other countries.”
‘Ball in Beijing’s court’ on South China Sea, Duterte says
Aside from the deal with Malaysia, Beijing – which has similar bilateral agreements with the Philippines and Brunei – is also pushing for a code of conduct for the South China Sea with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
An initial draft was presented in August last year, and in November the parties involved committed to finalising the code by 2021.
Progress since then, however, has been slow, with Beijing refusing to agree to making the code legally binding, and other countries worrying it will be used to falsely boost trust in the region without resolving disputes.


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How Indonesia is going its own way on Beijing, Brics and the South China Sea

South China Sea

China, Malaysia seek to resolve South China Sea disputes with new dialogue mechanism

Sunset over the South China Sea on the island of Borneo in Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock

epa07836327 Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Saifuddin Abdullah speaks during a press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi (not pictured) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Beijing, China, 12 September 2019.  EPA-EFE/ANDREA VERDELLI / POOL

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) and his Malaysian counterpart, Saifuddin Abdullah, have agreed to set up a dialogue mechanism to handle South China Sea disputes. Photo: Reuters

Asean steers between two powers with joint US military exercise in South China Sea

The USS Montgomery leads a flotilla of Asean navy ships in the Gulf of Thailand, during a joint maritime exercise. Photo: AFP

The opening ceremony is held for the first naval exercise between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Sept. 2, 2019, at Sattahip naval base in Thailand's Chonburi Province. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

India challenging China’s influence in the South China Sea with outreach to Russia and other regional powers, analysts say

India and Russia have agreed to launch a maritime route that would partly go through the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea. Photo: EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during their meeting at the 5th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019. Russian far-eastern city of Vladivostok hosts the Eastern Economic Forum on September 4-6, 2019. (Mikhail Metzel, TASS News Agency Pool Photo via AP)

‘Ball is in Beijing’s court’ on South China Sea after Rodrigo Duterte puts focus on international law

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is facing mounting domestic pressure to take a tougher stand on China. Photo: AFP

(190829) -- BEIJING, Aug. 29, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

In this undated June 2019 handout photo provided Arlinda dela Torre via the Department of Agriculture, the damaged Filipino fishing boat F/B Gimver 1 lies on the shores at San Jose, Occidental Mindoro province, Philippines. China recently acknowledged its fishing vessel hit a Filipino boat in the disputed South China Sea in an incident that prompted an outcry in the Philippines but denies the collision was intentional. The Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest after Filipino fishermen said a Chinese vessel rammed their anchored boat on Sunday night then abandoned them as the boat sank in the Reed Bank. (Department of Agriculture via AP)

Chinese apology for Philippine fishing boat sinking lands as Rodrigo Duterte heads to Beijing

The damaged Filipino fishing boat after its collision with a Chinese vessel in the disputed South China Sea. Photo: AP

News

China

Diplomacy


Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says arrangement will provide a ‘new platform for cooperation’
Tensions in disputed waterway ‘have dropped recently’, he says



Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says arrangement will provide a ‘new platform for cooperation’, adding that tensions in disputed waterway ‘have dropped recently.


Malaysia

China, Malaysia seek to resolve South China Sea disputes with new dialogue mechanism

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says arrangement will provide a ‘new platform for cooperation’ Tensions in disputed waterway ‘have dropped recently’, he says

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says arrangement will provide a ‘new platform for cooperation’

Tensions in disputed waterway ‘have dropped recently’, he says