China demonstrated its diplomatic muscle in the region by having host nation Laos to delete from the East Asia Summit communique any reference to the tribunal decision, just as it managed to do the day before to the communique issued by a meeting of the 10 ASEAN nations.
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The draft of the summit statement said that ASEAN and its partners “reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security and freedom of navigation in and over-flight in the South China Sea”.
Like the United States, Japan is not a claimant in the South China Sea. “We stressed the importance of the full and effective implementation of the DOC in its entirety”, read the document.
“With respect to maritime issues, we’ll continue to work to ensure that disputes are resolved peacefully including in the South China Sea”.
Obama’s remarks came at the end of a grueling nine-day trip that took the him to Laos and China following USA stops in Nevada, Hawaii and Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
The other ASEAN nations are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.
President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte, together with some Cabinet members and business leaders, poses for a photo at the 13th ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Moung Thanh Luxury Hotel in Vientiane, Laos on Tuesday (September 6, 2016).
The South China Sea row is among several security threats at the center of discussion Thursday at the summit.
Japan is “seriously concerned” about Beijing’s increasingly muscular claims in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Asian leaders.
But the release of the photos came just a few hours before ASEAN leaders met Li, in what Duterte’s spokesman said was a deliberate move.
China responded by saying that there had been no change and no new action regarding the area in question.
China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims on the sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.
“We could witness a physical confrontation between Chinese Coast Guard and Filipino vessels backed up by the US Navy”, Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor at Australia’s University of New South Wales, told AFP.
Under pressure after an global tribunal struck down its claim over the disputed South China Sea (SCS), China today welcomed President Vladimir Putin’s remarks that Russian Federation supports Beijing’s stance on the issue and opposes any third-party interference.
In this meeting, Duterte urged ASEAN and China to “be on the side of peace”, Andanar said.
The Philippine concern about the shoal comes after a dispute with the United States, its main ally.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has dismissed China’s historical claims over 90 per cent of South China Sea waters through its nine dash line. Obama had canceled a formal meeting with Duterte after the new Philippine leader used a crude schoolyard epithet to insult the president and warn him not to bring up extrajudicial killings in the Philippines during their meeting.
With that in mind, it has conducted patrols close to Chinese-held islands, to Beijing’s anger, while China has been bolstering its military presence in the sea.
The spokesperson claimed that the U.S. authorities had said they won’t take sides in territorial disputes and would support talks between the concerned parties.
The statement will be issued at the end of the summit between ASEAN and China on Wednesday, a meeting that will also commemorate the 25th anniversary of dialogue relations between the two sides.
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Duterte is seeking to boost ties with China in the face of a dispute between Manila and Beijing over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
