'Significant' progress made on disputed sea: officials

After nearly 10 years of talks, both sides announced at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Bali an agreement on guidelines to implement joint activities and projects in the disputed waters and islets.

While the guidelines were hailed publicly, diplomats privately played down their significance.

Moreover, differences crucially still remain on which areas of the South China Sea are being disputed after China laid claims to the entire region and the Philippines said it would seek U.N. arbitration to define areas under contention.

“Through fruitful and constructive discussions and dialogue, we have been able to arrive, at our level, at an agreement on the draft guidelines,” said Pham Quang Vinh, Vietnam's top senior foreign ministry official.

“This is a significant and good start for us to work together to continue dialogue and cooperation with a view to further promote this stability and confidence in the region,” he told reporters.

Tensions have risen markedly after several incidents between claimants, particularly involving China, in the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas and is a crucial route for global shipping trade.

China's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Zhenmin said the officials would submit what they had approved to their ministers Thursday for final endorsement, as he tried to play down any rifts.

“This is an important milestone document on the cooperation among China and ASEAN countries,” Liu told reporters. “And we have a bright future and we are looking forward to future cooperation.”

A draft of the one-page guidelines, seen by AFP, said they were meant “to guide the implementation of possible joint cooperative activities, measures and projects.”

But the diplomatic source, who asked not to be named, said the list of projects that can be undertaken has been whittled down.

The ultimate objective is for China and ASEAN to agree on a legally binding Regional Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, but diplomats have said this remains far off.

Underscoring potential minefields ahead, five Filipino lawmakers flew to an island in the disputed Spratly chain, ignoring warnings from Beijing the trip would destabilize the region and damage ties.

The legislators, joined by a small party of soldiers, local officials and journalists, arrived on Thitu island aboard two private planes and raised two Philippine flags above a government building.

In a commentary, China's ruling Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, urged the United States to stay out of the dispute after Washington backed its Philippine ally in the row.

A diplomatic source said the joint cooperation guidelines came after ASEAN agreed to drop reference to ASEAN talking as a group to China on the issue.

Beijing had opposed this on the grounds that not all ASEAN countries are claimants to the South China Sea.

Taiwan, China and ASEAN members Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia have overlapping claims to parts of the region.

ASEAN's other members are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

On Saturday, the ASEAN foreign ministers will be joined by U.S. Secretary of State State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the bigger ASEAN Regional Forum focused on security issues.

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