Global Times - 30.07.2019

Tuesday July 30, 2019 3

TOPNEWS

 Talks progressing despite divergence: expert

By Wang Wenwen

China and Southeast Asian countries

completed a first reading of the draft

code of conduct (COC) on the South

China Sea ahead of the July 29-Au-

gust 3 Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers

meeting in Bangkok, prompting Chi-

nese experts to hail this as an impor-

tant step toward consensus and lay-

ing the foundation for further talks.

Negotiators from the 10-member

ASEAN bloc met Chinese represen-

tatives in Penang, Malaysia last week

and discussed the evolving list of pro-

visions, according to the Jakarta Post.

The results of the Penang talks

would be discussed during the ASE-

AN-China ministerial meeting on

Wednesday in the Thai capital.

The first reading does not focus

on specific content but sets the tone,

Cheng Hanping, a senior research

fellow and professor at the Collabora-

tive Innovation Center of South Chi-

na Sea Studies at Nanjing University,

told the Global Times.

Future talks on the wording would

be tougher, Cheng warned.

“All sides are divergent on the

scale that the COC should cover and

which external countries should be

included,” he said.

The COC was expected to clarify

how regional countries should devel-

op resources in disputed waters and

where joint military exercises with ex-

ternal countries could be held, Cheng

noted.

“All these are controversial issues

that need to be tackled,” he said.

Cheng noted the South China

Sea has remained peaceful in recent

times thanks to the joint efforts of

China and ASEAN member states

who are working in a down-to-earth

manner to solve divergences.

As 2019 chairman of ASEAN,

Thailand will host the 52nd ASEAN

foreign ministers meeting and relat-

ed meetings.

China’s State Councilor and For-

eign Minister Wang Yi will attend

four foreign ministers’ meetings.

The ASEAN-China foreign min-

isters’ meeting on Wednesday will

be the first of the meetings between

ASEAN and its 10 partners, which

Chinese experts said shows the close-

ness of China and ASEAN.

ASEAN was China’s priority in its

neighborhood diplomacy and a key

region to develop the China-proposed

Belt and Road Initiative, asserted Ji-

ang Haijun, a post-doctoral fellow at

Fudan Journalism School in Shang-

hai.

“Talking to China first is a mani-

festation of their common interests,”

Jiang told the Global Times on Mon-

day.

US Secretary of State Mike Pom-

peo will attend a series of related

meetings in Bangkok including the

ASEAN Regional Forum and a for-

eign ministerial meeting of the US

and ASEAN.

As an external power, the US has

been hyping tensions in the region,

Cheng said. Washington has repeat-

edly raised the South China Sea is-

sue at ASEAN meetings and gener-

ally played a destabilizing role in the

South China Sea, he noted.

“The US has been strengthening

its military presence by carrying out

so-called ‘freedom of navigation’ op-

erations and holding bilateral mili-

tary exercises,” Cheng said. “Also, the

US sells weapons to regional coun-

tries which has broken the strategic

balance in the region.”

China, ASEAN read sea code

By Zhang Hui

Delegates to an academic conference on interna-
tional law in Beijing stressed multilateralism and
cooperation among developing countries against
an undermining of international rules by coun-
tries including the US through actions like uni-
lateral sanctions.
Certain countries practice unilateralism and
protectionism, disavow international obligations,
undermine the multilateral mechanism, bully
other countries and meddle in their affairs, im-
pose unilateral sanctions, willfully start a trade
and technology war, and have no regard for inter-
national law, said China’s Vice Foreign Minister
Luo Zhaohui.
“They bring instability, conflict and turmoil to
the world and pose unprecedented challenges to
the UN-centered international system based on
international law,” Luo said.
Luo made the remarks during the 2019 Col-
loquium on International Law in the Changing
World: The Role of Developing Countries held at
the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and attended by
300 representatives from 80 developing coun-
tries and international organizations.
Addressing the challenges of international
law, Luo called on developing countries to uphold
multilateralism in international rule making, re-
ject unilateralism and the practice of imposing
one’s own domestic rule on others as if it were
the international rule.
He urged attendees to oppose the practice of
long-arm jurisdiction, pointing fingers at other
countries’ domestic affairs, inciting a color revo-
lution or regime change and abusing unilateral
sanctions.
Sani L. Mohammed, rector of the African In-
stitute of International Law, told the Global Times
on the sidelines of the colloquium that countries
like the US, which has been withdrawing from
UN organizations and treaties, threaten the inter-
national legal order and do not respect interna-
tional rules.
Mohammed praised China’s Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI).
Africa’s immense infrastructure needs justify
the continent’s integration into the BRI, he said,
and many African countries have developed their
legal systems to better accommodate the initia-
tive.
Developing countries should condemn unilat-
eral sanctions by “certain countries” that illegally
deprive targeted nations of basic human needs,
said Rahmat Mohamad, deputy vice-chancellor
at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Malaysia and
former secretary-general of the Asia-Africa Legal
Consultative Organization.

Developing nations’

delegates condemn

unilateral actions

By Liu Xuanzun

China has started military exer-
cises in both the East and South
China Seas near coastal areas,
according to two navigation
restriction notices released by
maritime safety authorities on
Sunday and Monday.
The military exercises in the
East China Sea started at 6 pm
on Sunday, and is scheduled to
conclude at 6 pm on Thursday,
according to a Sunday notice
released on the website of the

Maritime Safety Administra-

tion of China.

According to coordinates

provided in the notice, the re-

striction zone covers a large

area not far from the east coast

of Zhoushan and Taizhou, East

China’s Zhejiang Province.

Another military activity is

to take place in the South Chi-

na Sea, off the coast of South

China’s Guangdong Province,

said a separate Maritime Safety

Administration notice released

on Monday.

This military activity start-

ed at 6 am on Monday and is

expected to end at 6 pm on

Friday, the notice released on

Monday reads.

The two military activities

are essentially taking place in

waters north and west of the is-

land of Taiwan.

People’s Liberation Army

(PLA) drills are annually sched-

uled, but some secessionists

on the island have been mak-

ing irresponsible comments,

and the US, a major country

from outside of the region,

has been sending warships

through the Taiwan Straits

and even sold weapons to the

island, so this week’s military

drills could serve as a deterrent,

Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based

military analyst, told the Global

Times on Monday.

Wei said the drills are con-

ducted in two different areas at

almost the same time, which is

a demonstration of the PLA’s

strength, determination and

capability to safeguard sover-

eignty and territorial integrity.

After the US approved a

plan to sell $2.22 billion worth

of arms to the island earlier

this month, China’s Defense

Ministry announced a military

drill near the southeast coast of

the Chinese mainland. It is not

known if the two military ac-

tivities mentioned are related to

the ministry’s announcement.

PLA conducts military exercises in waters near Taiwan island

A crop-dusting

helicopter

resides in a

paddy field

in Chikusei,

Ibaraki

Prefecture,

eastern Japan,

on Monday

after crashing

when it

apparently

struck a

power line.

The 49-year-

old pilot

didn’t sustain

any life-

threatening

injuries. Photo:

VCG

Crop circle

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