Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and China issued a joint statement Wednesday on the application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) in the South China Sea.
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China today accused the Philippines of spreading “rumours” as it refuted allegations by Manila that it has secretly begun work to build an artificial island at a crucial shoal in the disputed South China Sea after an global tribunal struck down Beijing’s claims.
Japan is “seriously concerned” about Beijing’s increasingly muscular claims in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Asian leaders Wednesday.
“There were four Coast Guard ships, one guarding the entrance to the shoal, and six other ships colored blue in varying configurations”, said the Cabinet official.
China claims much of the South China Sea, which carries the bulk of Northeast Asia’s trade with the rest of the world.
Li’s visit is widely considered an important diplomatic action to deepen China-ASEAN relations, and promote cooperation among East Asian countries.
President Duterte is seeking an explanation from China over its reported construction activities in the Scarborough Shoal despite an arbitral ruling against its territorial claims.
Beijing’s territorial claims to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which are believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves, run counter to those of the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
China condemned the ruling as a sham and moved to prevent it from being recognized in ASEAN communiques, something that its close ally, Cambodia, has backed in meetings of the 10-nation bloc, which operates by consensus.
Zhao said there were no boats near the disputed shoal, but new photos taken by the Philippine Navy of the area showed that aside from Chinese ships, barges and dredges were also in the disputed maritime territory.
Tensions over the disputed waters between China and its neighbors were expected to hang over the Group of 20 summit, that opened in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Sunday.
Secretary Perfecto Yasay of the Department of Foreign Affairs, cited the importance of Duterte’s presence at the summit as he revealed the president was to accept the Asean chairmanship for 2017 from Laos.
China supposedly backed down from developing the Scarborough area after Obama expressed US opposition to their plans in March, in part because thousands of Americans are scheduled for deployment in the Philippines as part of a new defense agreement, and having a Chinese military outpost only 140 miles from Luzon would be disturbing.
China seized control of the shoal, which is positioned approximately 120 miles from the coast of the Philippines, in 2012.
In July, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that barring Filipinos from the shoal violated “traditional fishing rights” – but the Chinese did not budge.
United States officials have been waiting to see what China would do around Scarborough Shoal after the summit meeting, assuming that the Chinese wanted a seamless conference.
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“We don’t know yet if those barges are precursors of future dredging operations but let us not forget that early this year they actually tried to bring dredging barges but were dissuaded by the US”.
