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.
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Southeast Asian nations ducked direct criticism of Beijing over its claims to the South China Sea, in a diluted statement produced after days of disagreement that gives the superpower a diplomatic victory.
“I was just conscious of the fact that our president had said that whatever we will do, we will not violate the law, we will uphold the constitution and we will promote the paramount national interest”, Yasay said.
Aside from the sea feud with China, Duterte planned to discuss other security concerns, including peace talks with communist and Muslim rebels and the battle he has fought against illegal drugs, which has left almost 300 suspected drug dealers and users dead since he was inaugurated on June 30.
If an agreement can not be reached, this will mark only the second time in ASEAN’s 49-year-history that it has deadlocked over issuing a statement, and the previous incident, in 2012, also involved Cambodia blocking a statement on the South China Sea.
The top US diplomat shared a working lunch Wednesday with the new Philippine president, who has criticized USA security policies and publicly made friendly overtures to China.
U.S. Secretary of State Kerry says backs bilateral talks; Philippines says dispute does not involve United States.
The US official said he was satisfied with the Asean statement, even if it skipped references to the July 12 ruling of the court based in The Hague, Netherlands.
On the one hand, regional countries resist taking sides on the arbitration case, believing that it is a bilateral issue between China and the Philippines.
During the foreign ministers’ meeting between China and ASEAN nations (10+1), China and the ASEAN nations issued a joint statement on full and effective implementation of the DOC, which reiterates that disputes should be resolved peacefully through negotiation between the parties directly concerned, said Lu.
China’s dismissal of the court ruling as illegitimate presented a challenge, Kerry said.
Wang said China will welcome Abe’s visit for the G-20 meeting, according to the official.
After hectic negotiations before Kerry’s arrival in Vientiane from Paris earlier Monday, ASEAN issued a watered-down rebuke of China that amounted to less than a slap on the wrist, and exposed the deep divisions in a regional body that prides itself on unity.
MANILA, July 27 The Philippines “vigorously pushed” for the inclusion of a arbitration ruling in an ASEAN statement but the grouping’s decision not to mention it was not a victory for China, Manila’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
The worldwide court has favored the Philippines in the case it filed against China, which claims most parts of the South China Sea.
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“But we’re not trying to create a confrontation, we’re trying to create a solution, mindful of the rights of the people that are established under the law”.
