The grouping could have leveraged the recent decision by a permanent arbitration panel in The Hague, which ruled in favor of the Philippines in a case it brought against China in their dispute in the South China Sea.
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The two issues are not related, he said, reiterating an earlier assertion from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Kerry, who arrived in Manila on Tuesday after attending a regional summit in Laos, met with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Hundreds took to the streets to protest Kerry’s visit. ASEAN experienced similar difficulties with a joint communique in 2012 due to member differences over South China Sea issues.
“We urge all the claimants to exercise restraint and to work to reduce tensions”, he said.
He said the Philippines hoped “to settle our disputes as regards South China Sea” even if China refused to use as framework the arbitral tribunal ruling.
“This trilateral statement came at a highly inappropriate time and conforms in no way with the development of the situation”, he said. It claims historic rights to the vast sea, a claim that was rubbished by the arbitration panel, which said the sea is worldwide waters and the rocky outcrops do not constitute sovereign islands that would give states an ownership on the surrounding waters.
In the context of Asean-China relations, Retno said that foreign ministers from Asean member countries and China have also released a joint statement agreeing on the implementation of the Declaration of Conduct in solving the South China Sea dispute. “The rights of the countries should always be respected”, Kerry said.
Backing China’s call for bilateral discussions, Cambodia opposed the wording on the ruling, diplomats said.
China has long said it will only settle maritime territorial disputes through bilateral negotiations, rejecting calls for any multilateral solution.
“We’re not trying to create a confrontation”.
The United States had earlier on Monday urged ASEAN to make a reference to the July 12 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, in which USA ally Manila won an emphatic legal victory over China on the dispute. The ruling denied Beijing’s argument that it has sole possession of the waters.
Duterte will host Kerry at the presidential palace for a working lunch, a gesture the USA official called “unprecedented and a signal of the importance the new president places on the relationship and the alliance” with the United States. It is also believed to sit atop vast reserves of oil and gas.
“(The ruling) has to be part of the calculation and I am confident that our friends in the Philippines will make their judgments about their negotiating position is and how to proceed forward”, Kerry said.
In Vientiane, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for an end to the “political manipulation and sensationalisation” of the South China Sea and reiterated a desire for the United States to help support a return to direct bilateral negotiations between Beijing and Manila.
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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said a page had been turned after the “deeply flawed” ruling and it was time to lower the temperature in the dispute.
