U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States is very encouraged by statements coming from many members of the worldwide community, including many Southeast Asian nations, that have expressed support for the rule of law and a peaceful settlement of maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
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Earlier Monday, the bloc, however, omitted from a joint statement any mention of a recent global arbitration panel ruling in a dispute between the Philippines and China that said Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea were illegal.
Speaking to reporters on a conference call, a senior US administration official said at the end of a visit to China by National Security Adviser Susan Rice that she had emphasised all parties should take steps to reduce tensions and use the ruling to reinvigorate regional diplomacy.
In a ruling by the United Nations -backed Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12, the Philippines won an emphatic legal victory over China on the dispute.
China has advocated the “dual-track” approach – disputes should be resolved peacefully through negotiation between the parties directly concerned, and China and ASEAN countries should work together to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.
US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) gestures as he talks with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during his visit to the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila on July 27, 2016.
Earlier, Cambodia was blamed for preventing ASEAN from reaching a consensus on the South China Sea, parts of which the Philippines claims as the West Philippine Sea.
“If you read the communique paragraph per paragraph, I was very satisfied that the communique clearly referenced all legal rights, all legal decisions, all legal processes, without mentioning the arbitration”, Mr Kerry said at a news conference in Manila.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said Yasay’s comments that the resolution of the dispute was for the Philippines and China only was “a welcoming change in Manila’s policy”.
She said the USA favours increasing mutual trust with China through joint efforts and managing disputes through close communication.
Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella said the president told Kerry that any bilateral talks with China would “begin with the ruling”.
China has angrily rejected the verdict and pledged to pursue claims that conflict with those of several smaller neighbors.
The statement, tellingly, went further than a cautious joint statement produced by then 10 ASEAN member nations, meeting for the first time after the July 12 arbitration which came down overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines, and against China.
“The goal of that meeting was simply to address the South China Sea issue in terms of trying to resolve it, consistent with the general principles of worldwide law and the 1982 Unclos”, he said.
Abella also said Duterte explained his war on crime and drugs to Kerry, who pledged US$32 million in USA assistance for “training and services” for law enforcement.
Malacañang said the $32-million aid would be in the form of training and services as well as assistance in law enforcement.
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Duterte has launched a bloody war on crime, urging law enforcers, communist rebels and even the public to kill criminals.
