Chinese PM's offer to Asean: friendship pact, defence meeting

The Straits Times/ANN -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang yesterday renewed a pitch for closer security ties with the region with twin offers - to sign a "treaty of friendship and cooperation" with Asean and to host an informal meeting between defence ministers of Asean and China next year.

He reached out to the Asean leaders during the East Asia Summit, a day after the 10-nation grouping expressed concerns over territorial disputes in the South China Sea in their customary statement following their annual meeting here.

Li repeated China's oft-stated "resolve to safeguard territorial sovereignty" and "determination to uphold regional peace and stability".

But he also struck a conciliatory note: "China stands ready to become the first dialogue partner to sign with Asean a treaty of friendship and cooperation."

China was willing to sign legal documents with countries on good neighbourliness and friendship, he said.

In an interview with Singapore media, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said China's proposal of a treaty with Asean was one of various proposals to take the relationship with China forward. "I think we will look at what is inside the treaty," he said.

"But we have good relations with China, with America, with Japan, with (South) Korea, with India; I think we would like to have a basis for being friends with all of them without necessarily having a treaty with every single one of them."

On China's proposal for a meeting of defence ministers,Lee said the ministers would discuss it, but cautioned that there were sensitivities because different Asean countries had different strategic and security assessments.

For defence ministers to meet systematically would be "a significant step which we will have to consider carefully", he said.

In Li's remarks, he referred to a proposed but long delayed mechanism to manage tensions in disputed areas of the South China Sea, saying China and Asean had "agreed to actively carry out consultations to reach… at an early date, a Code of Conduct".

Disputes in the South China Sea - claimed in whole or part by China and four Asean countries, most critically the Philippines and Vietnam - threatened to boil over this year when Beijing placed a state-owned oil rig in waters claimed by China and Vietnam.

Li also mentioned recent agreements between China and Asean countries to establish a hotline among search and rescue agencies, as well as foreign ministries, for maritime emergencies.

He offered Asean countries US$20 billion in preferential and special loans to develop infrastructure.

Analyst Ian Storey at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies said Li's comment on the code was a "modest step forward".

But it was more likely "tactical moderation" in the interest of improving relations with neighbours, he said. "It makes China appear cooperative and constructive but does not indicate a change in its overall policy."