WHEN there is a change in the chair of Asean, it doesn't usually make the headlines. This year with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, whose country is in Asean's chair, it may just be breaking news time.
And that may just begin in the stormy waters of the South China Sea, the locus of China's expansive territorial claims. In an exclusive interview with Media Prima, Jokowi made Asean's position clear: "We want the South China Sea to become an area that is stable, peaceful and prosperous. The key to this is adherence to international law, to the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982)." He went further: "All claims that have no basis should not take place." Obey the law, peace and prosperity will follow, is Jokowi's message. No Asean chair has been this forthright.
Such candour has become necessary. The South China Sea has been a flashpoint for the longest time. It is a scene of overlapping claims by China, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and the Philippines. According to news portal The Diplomat, China's expansive territorial claim, as expressed by its "nine-dash line", first made its formal appearance in a note verbale to the United Nations on May 7, 2009, in an attempt to refute a joint claim submitted by Malaysia and Vietnam.
Maritime lawyers say China's note verbale doesn't meet the strictures of UNCLOS. Encouraged perhaps by such a legal view, the Philippines filed a case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, calling on the tribunal to reject China's baseless territorial claim. The PCA ruled, on July 12, 2016, that there was no legal basis for China to claim such historic rights.
China has refused to recognise the ruling. International law must not be ignored like this. Besides, such sidestepping of UNCLOS by China makes it easy for the United States to send warships to ensure freedom of navigation.
China, too, is countering this with its very own naval drills. China's coast guard vessels, too, are getting aggressive by the day. But such an aggressive stance is having the opposite effect. It is pushing the Philippines and the US even closer together. Last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and President Joe Biden met at the Oval Office to discuss security matters in the region, according to The Guardian.
It is clear Washington is battling Beijing for influence in the region, even if it leads to war. It is clear, too, that China is making it easier for such a war to happen. There have been a few near misses.
War is, however, not inevitable. Two nations — China and the US — which can cause such a war can also stop it from happening. Here is how. Just follow Jokowi's advice: obey the law. To China, it means respecting UNCLOS and not putting up territorial and maritime claims with no basis.
To the US, an aggressor in many regions, it means not militarising the South China Sea. We perfectly understand Washington's need for free navigation in the South China Sea.
After all, one-third of the world's maritime trade passes through the troubled waters. But why frigates when we have international law? Obeying international law should be easy for the US and China, as both have gone public saying they are all for a rule of law world order. Time to prove it.