By Kaitlin Shung

Jul. 19 – Foreign ministers and officials will meet next week at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bali, Indonesia where a key topic on the agenda will be the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Representatives are expected from the ASEAN states as well as other nations with interests in the region such as Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

Disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea have been escalating recently and drawing the attention of the international community. The South China Sea is home to important global shipping routes as well as valuable oil and gas reserves, which has drawn China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam to the table to try and claim portions of the territory.

China has strongly insisted that only countries directly involved in the disputes should be involved in discussions and negotiations, and countries like the United States have no place in what it sees as a regional issue. To some, this strong commitment to purely bilateral negotiations by China is a way to bully and overpower smaller countries. In contrast, countries like Vietnam and the Philippines have looked to draw additional international attention and support through pulling nations like Japan and the United States into discussions.

Regardless of China’s preferences, the South China Sea will be an important topic of discussion at the Regional Forum.

“One united stand of ASEAN is that all of us have a common desire to see the region, including the South China Sea, being managed peacefully,” said the ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan.

China has historically had good relations with ASEAN and the country committed to the Duty of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002. This agreement outlined a code of conduct in regards to this area and while this diplomatic maneuver was a positive step, it was not legally binding. Despite China’s resistance to discuss territorial issues in the South China Sea in a larger, public forum, ASEAN officials do not anticipate these discussions will damage relations with China.

What many political analysts are anxious to see is what kind of stance the United States will take during the upcoming meeting. At the same ASEAN Regional Forum last summer, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ruffled China’s feathers with the announcement that the South China Sea was “a leading diplomatic priority” for the United States in an orchestrated move that seemed like it had the backing of many ASEAN members. Clinton is expected to be in attendance again at this year’s forum.

“The U.S. position is that they are interested in the stability, security, the free passage because…they have their vessels moving around the region,” the ASEAN Secretary General said in a released statement regarding American interests in the South China Sea disputes.

This event will be a precursor to the annual ASEAN Summit, to be held at the end of 2011.

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