Tag: "asean no joint statement"
Why there was no ASEAN joint communiqué
Below is the official press statement of DFA undersecretary Erlinda F. Basilio. DiveristyHuman.com chooses to believe her statement rather than to contradict and pose negative comments which will further cause conflict between the ASEAN host country-Cambodia and the Philippines.
Why there was no ASEAN joint communiqué
I am sharing this article with the Filipino people to inform them of the real state of the discussions during the 45th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh on 09 July 2012. I was present during the discussions in the different sessions. I feel it is my duty to present to all Filipinos the efforts made by the Philippine Delegation to seek the unified support of ASEAN to the West Philippine Sea issue which affects not only its member countries but the region as a whole. Through this article, I hope to present the real picture during the Ministerial Meeting from the point of view of a Filipino, and in the process, correct the grave misimpressions generated by some who were not present during those meetings.
The non-issuance of the customary Joint Communiqué after the 45th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia expectedly generated considerable reactions and commentaries because it was unprecedented in ASEAN’s 45 years of existence.
However, many of those reactions/commentaries were based on erroneous information. It is therefore essential to lay down the facts.
1. Fiction: There was no Joint Communiqué because ASEAN failed to agree on the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea.
Never before has our regional association been as strained as it is today — and much of the blame might be put on the Philippine side.
Fact: ASEAN had already agreed on the key elements of the proposed Code of Conduct on the South China Sea for discussion with China. The Philippines was successful in having its suggested main elements included to give the Code the substance it requires.
The strain being felt by ASEAN is not attributable to the Philippines but it was reportedly due to the failure of the Chair to gain a consensus.
Within the ASEAN framework, the Philippines needed to be resolute in giving primacy to national interest.
Tags: asean no communiqu_, asean no joint statement, reason why no asean joint communiqu_, reason why no asean joint statement
