Two weeks before the controversial ASEAN ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan had floated the possibility of joint development among the territorial claimants in the South China Sea, in apparent reference to Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as non-ASEAN member China.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Bangkok in late May, Pitsuwan was quoted by Bernama, Malaysia's national news agency, as saying that the claimants "could possibly explore the resources together rather than focusing on who owns what."

Given the glacial pace of efforts between the ASEAN countries and China to resolve their South China Sea disputes, Pitsuwan's suggestions would constitute progress.

The end goal, presumably, would be a binding regional Code of Conduct (COC). Indeed, moving into the COC phase is now ASEAN's priority as reflected in statements by ASEAN foreign ministers during the recent visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

The atmosphere around the looming question of how to resolve the disputes has been badly marred by the fallout from the ASEAN foreign ministers talks in Cambodia which ended on July 13 without a joint communiqué for the first time in 45 years.

The causes of ASEAN's unprecedented failure to issue its customary joint statement are still being hotly debated, but the China factor is key.

While the fragility of ASEAN unity has been exposed, there has been unease since the Phnom Penh meeting with Beijing's apparent intrusion into the group's decision-making process on the South China Sea disputes.

The lack of a proper closure to the Phnom Penh meeting, caused by the ASEAN chair's refusal to issue a joint communiqué, is an unwelcome turning point.

The view within ASEAN is that Cambodia, which chaired the meeting, was doing China a favor. China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea may be its response to the US pivot to the Asia Pacific, but the growing standoffs, including at sea, with the ASEAN claimants, are creating a general climate of unease.

Prior to the ASEAN meeting, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, in uncharacteristically strong language, warned ASEAN not to "hype" the issue. "This South China Sea issue is not an issue between China and ASEAN, but between China and some ASEAN countries," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters. "Hyping the South China Sea issue...is an attempt to take China-ASEAN relations hostage."

But for ASEAN, it is artificial and unrealistic to divorce the bilateral dimension of the disputes from the group's collective and shared interests.

The mood within ASEAN has now been soured by what is seen as a case of China's interference in its internal affairs.

The region, already unsure of how to cope with an emerging giant, will find growing comfort in the increasing presence of the US in the region. And by its attempts to intervene in ASEAN's internal affairs, China may have played into the hands of those skeptical of the country's intentions. 
 
The author is a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn