John Kerry, US secretary of state, warned on Monday that the future stability of the Asia-Pacific region will depend on long-stalled efforts by China and southeast Asian nations to draw up a code of conduct to manage territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that the region’s future stability will depend in part on the success and timeliness of the effort to produce a code of conduct,” Mr Kerry said at a press conference with Marty Natalegawa, the Indonesia foreign minister, who has spearheaded efforts by the 10 member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to advance talks on the code with Beijing.
“The longer the process takes, the longer tensions will simmer and the greater the chance of a miscalculation by somebody that could trigger a conflict.”