VOA标准英语2012--ASEAN Still Searching for Consensus on South China Sea Dispute

ASEAN Still Searching for Consensus¹ on South China Sea Dispute

The maritime² dispute has become increasingly heated in the last year. China claims ownership of much of the South China Sea, along with four ASEAN states, including the Philippines.

On Wednesday, ASEAN chair Cambodia issued a statement saying that the ten member states have agreed to "intensify³ efforts" on agreeing to a code of conduct, or CoC, on the dispute.

The question that ASEAN leaders sought to answer this week, is whether China would be involved in those discussions before the group had reached a consensus.

"It must be resolved peacefully in accordance with a rules-based regime and the new element that we've introduced is that the drafting of the CoC and the inclusion of the major elements should actually made by ASEAN internally before China is invited," stated Albert Del Rosario, the Philippines' secretary of foreign affairs.

ASEAN officials said Wednesday's pledge to expedite the process is an attempt to reach that consensus as soon as possible.

But the next scheduled meeting on the issue between China and ASEAN is only months away. On Wednesday, other ASEAN leaders said it was important to have a common position in any regional negotiations⁴, but they also left the door open to China's involvement.

"This is not necessarily a neat sequential process isn't it. Of course, ASEAN … first and foremost, must have a solid consolidated⁵ position," said Marty Natalegawa, Indonesia's foreign affairs minister and a former ASEAN chairman. "But at the same time as we proceed, there will be constant communication through the ASEAN-China framework, so that whatever final position ASEAN comes up with will have benefited from having some kind of communication with China," he said. 

It has been 10 years since ASEAN members first agreed in principle to reach a consensus on the South China Sea. Yet member nations still have failed in seeking a common approach to govern negotiations with China. The issue has become increasingly heated in the last year, particularly with maritime confrontations⁶ between China and the Philippines.

Although they failed again to reach a consensus, Natalegawa says this week discussions were a positive step.

"The big picture is one that must not be lost … now we have a situation where all are basically rushing to get the CoC off the ground. Which was not the case before. Now we have China wanting to come in and ASEAN wanting to finalize⁷ the CoC as soon as possible," said Natalegawa. "This is all good dynamics⁸." 

The next ASEAN leaders' summit is scheduled for November, also in Cambodia.

1 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

2 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

3 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

6 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

7 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

8 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。