The 47th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-47) on August 10 issueda joint communiqué expressing the ministers’ deep concern over recentdevelopments that have escalated tensions in the East Sea (alsoknown as South China Sea ).

“We remained seriouslyconcerned over recent developments which had increased tensions inthe South China Sea and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace,stability, maritime security as well as freedom of navigation in andover-flight above the South China Sea ,” they said.

They also reaffirmed their commitments to the principles stipulated inthe 2012 Statement of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers on ASEAN's Six PointPrinciples on the East Sea, the 2012 Joint Statement of the 15thASEAN-China Summit on the 10th Anniversary of the Declaration on theConduct of Parties in the East Sea, and the ASEAN Foreign Minister’sStatement on the Current Developments in the East Sea which was issuedon May 10, 2014.

“We urged all parties concernedto exercise self-restraint and avoid actions which would complicate thesituation and undermine peace, stability, and security in the SouthChina Sea and to settle disputes through peaceful means, withoutresorting to the threat or use of force, including friendly dialogue,consultations and negotiations, in accordance with universallyrecognised principles of international law, including the 1982 UnitedNations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” according the communiqué.

Theministers further stressed the importance of the collective commitmentsof ASEAN Member States and China to peace, stability,maritime security and mutual trust in the region and the need to createconditions conducive for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Theyagreed to intensify consultations with China on measures and mechanismsto ensure and further enhance the full and effective implementation ofthe DOC in its entirety, particularly Articles 4 and 5 as well assubstantive negotiations for the early conclusion of the Code of Conductin the East Sea (COC). They said they tasked their Senior Officials tofollow up on this matter.

The communiqué also tooknote of the Progress Report on the Implementation of the Declaration onthe Conduct of Parties in the East Sea to be submitted to theASEAN-China Post-Ministerial Conference, and tasked officials to workwith China to finalise the objective and structure and elaborate thesubstance of the COC, including concrete elements which would promotetrust and confidence, prevent incidents, manage incidents should theyoccur.

The ministers underscored the importance ofmaintaining the momentum of consultations and expeditiously workingtowards the early conclusion of the COC following the constructiveoutcomes of the 7th ASEAN-China Senior Officials Meeting on theImplementation of the DOC (SOM on DOC) held on April 21, 2014 inPattaya, Thailand and the 10th and 11th ASEAN-China Joint Working Groupson the Implementation of the DOC (JWG on DOC) held on March 18, 2014 inSingapore and June 25, 2014 in Bali, Indonesia, respectively.

“Inthis regard, we looked forward to more substantive discussions at the8th SOM on DOC to be convened back-to-back with the 12th JWG on DOC inOctober 2014 in Bangkok , Thailand ,” they said.

They also noted the paper on the Triple Action Plan introduced by thePhilippines and other proposals on Article 5 of the DOC raised byother ASEAN Foreign Ministers on the East Sea .

The jointcommuniqué also mentioned other issues discussed by the ASEAN ForeignMinisters during the AMM-47, including realising an ASEAN Community withthree main pillars, ASEAN Community’s post-2015 vision, promotingASEAN’s principles, norms and values and ASEAN’s centrality and itsrelations with partners, among others.-VNA