Southeast Asia’s top diplomat has warned that the South China Sea disputes risk becoming “Asia’s Palestine”, deteriorating into a violent conflict that draws sharp dividing lines between nations and destabilises the whole region.
Surin Pitsuwan, the outgoing secretary-general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, told the Financial Times that Asia was entering its “most contentious” period in recent years as a rising China stakes out its claim to almost the entire South China Sea, clashing with the Philippines, Vietnam and others.
“We have to be mindful of the fact that the South China Sea could evolve into another Palestine,” if countries do not try harder to defuse rather than inflame tensions, he said.
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