MANILA - Countries contesting ownership of parts of the West Philippine Sea should demilitarize disputed areas to avoid a shooting war, an analyst said Monday. This is just one of the practical solutions to avoid military conflict in the region, according to Dr. Termsak Chalermpalanupap, a reseach fellow of the ASEAN Studies Centre at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore. Chalermpalanupap, who served nearly 20 years at the ASEAN Secretariat, said in a ISEAS paper that the Philippines, China, Vietnam, and other countries claiming parts of the West Philippine Sea should set up hot lines, as well as publish and distribute maps showing coordinates of their respective claims. "Claimants can stop reinforcing and start scaling down their respective military occupation of disputed areas. All of them, except Brunei Darussalam, have deployed troops to give de facto effect to their claims, particularly in the Spratly group of islands," he said. He added that while the current Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the West Philippine Sea discourages "inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays, and other features", it does not say anything on the deployment of troops in disputed areas. "Fortunately, these troops have not engaged in any direct armed hostility. Withdrawing them with a common understanding that doing so will not jeopardize any party’s claims will be a significant goodwill gesture," he said. He also mentioned Taiwan, whose troops are occupying Taiping or Itu Aba -- the largest island in the Spratlys. "Perhaps Taiwan can take the lead in proposing a complete military withdrawal from all disputed areas in the South China Sea. How the other claimants will respond will be an interesting development to watch," Chalermpalanupap said. Hotlines Chalermpalanupap said an emergency communication network between countries will allow governments to quickly contact each other and help defuse any situation in any disputed area before it escalates into an armed clash or international crisis. This was proposed by Brunei Darussalam during the 7th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM). abs-cbnnews/focus/06/10/13/demilitarize-west-philippine-sea-analyst-says
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:39:29 +0000
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