China should form maritime coop forum with India, US

BEIJING: China should form a maritime cooperation forum with India and US to focus on maritime border security management, joint exploration of resources in order to reduce friction with neighbours in the South China Sea, a write up in an official media here said today.

"China should take the initiative in building a maritime cooperation organisation, which can reduce trouble and prevent confrontation through building a consensus on maritime cooperation," the Global Times web edition said.

The organisation should focus on maritime border security management, joint exploration of resources and crisis handling, it said a day after US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta announced at Singapore yesterday that America plans to shift a bulk of its naval fleet to Asia Pacific by 2020.

China should advocate a new outlook of maritime security, deepen cooperation mechanisms like the ASEAN Plus Three and ASEAN Plus One, and craft an East Asian Free Trade Area, the write up said.

"Its basic structure should include three levels, East Asian state organisations as the core, dialogue mechanisms among regional forces like the US, Australia and India as the outer level, and forums of observers like the EU and the UN as the periphery. As a result, all relevant parties with conflicts, interests or concerns will be included," it said.

"The organisation will thus become a 'public security product' that China can provide to the Asia-Pacific region. It comes from China but belongs to the region, reflecting China's new strategic thinking of an inclusive rise," it said.

China can also consider jointly advocating with ASEAN a maritime code of conduct based on the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the UN Charter.

Then it can further promote dialogue with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, (SCO) which could be the embryonic form of a Eurasia cooperation organisation, it said.