(Philippine Government via AP).
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US President Barack Obama is also in Laos for the regional meetings, which will conclude on Thursday with an East Asia summit.
Asian leaders have played down tensions over the South China Sea in a carefully worded summit statement In Vientiane, Laos.
The summit marked the first meeting among leaders of all 10 ASEAN members since the tribunal’s decision.
The verdict by an worldwide tribunal in The Hague said China’s claims to most of the waters – through which $5 trillion in global shipping trade passes annually – had no legal basis.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Obama and leaders from other regional powers are also in Laos this week for separate meetings with ASEAN.
China claims the entire South China Sea as its own, citing historical reasons. The final version was not immediately released. The deal awaits ratification in the U.S. Congress, where there is opposition from both parties. Obama brought that up again. The United States and Japan have repeatedly urged China to respect the ruling.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she believed it was natural for China’s coast guard vessels to legally carry out patrols and maintain maritime order in waters under China’s jurisdiction. He said it is “also against the trend in the region to resolve the disputes by cooperation and dialogue”.
President Barack Obama has said that Republican Donald Trump proves he is not qualified to be president “every time he speaks”, adding that he was confident Americans would ultimately reject the brash billionaire on election day.
Between 2010 and 2016, there were 45 incidents in the South China Sea, and China’s coast guard vessels were involved in 68 percent of these incidents, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) revealed in a recent report.
The dispute has raised fears of military confrontation between the world’s superpowers, with China determined to cement control of the strategically vital waters despite a July verdict that its claims have no legal basis.
The East Asia bloc was expected to urge all parties to follow worldwide law, but otherwise release a muted statement on the South China Sea. Cambodia, for example, remains firmly in China’s camp, as is Laos to a large extent, preventing any robust statement from the consensus-bound ASEAN group.
Abella said Manila was communicating with Chinese officials on the presence of the ships, through diplomatic and “back door” channels – primarily through the country’s special envoy to China, former President Fidel Ramos.
Nevertheless, intensive Chinese lobbying helped to ensure there was no mention of the July ruling in the ASEAN statement.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak admitted that managing the South China Sea dispute was “tricky and sensitive”. That has pitted it against the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, all members of ASEAN, which have overlapping claims.
The awkwardness continued days later when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called Mr Obama a “son of a bitch” and warned him not to challenge him in their planned meeting in Laos, leading Mr Obama to call it off.
Liu, the Chinese vice foreign minister, pointed that out.
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Relations were severely strained under Duterte’s predecessor because of the conflict.
