Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei reported that Abe expressed deep concern about China’s “continued attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the South and East China seas over the past few months” and warned Southeast Asian leaders against taking too conciliatory a stance towards Beijing.
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Following a week of summits in the region, Mr Turnbull told reporters progress was slow but there was a sense of cautious optimism that there could be at least agreement on a code of conduct for the South China Sea.
“We reaffirmed the importance of peace and security in this region and reiterated support for the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner”, the statement said.
A separate joint statement on the application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea in the South China Sea will also be adopted during a sideline meeting between ASEAN and China, with the aim of ensuring maritime safety in the disputed sea.
Obama suggested that these incidents were largely a fixation of the news media and did not reflect on his conversations with Asian leaders at two summit meetings here, nor the enthusiastic welcome he got from ordinary people.
“Asean nations realized that there is a need to seek practical solutions to manage disputes rather than unnecessarily inflaming tensions” by raising the tribunal as an issue, said Jia Qingguo, a professor of global studies at Peking University. “We stressed the importance for the parties concerned to resolve their disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with universally recognized principles of worldwide laws”, it said.
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).
USA officials, however, said that there were other critical elements in the ASEAN statement that China failed to block, and which amounted to a strong diplomatic rebuke of Beijing.
Obama has urged Chinato adhere to the rule of Lawand not take unilateral measures that could raise tensions.
China claims much of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion worth of trade moves each year.
That deal awaits ratification in the U.S. Congress, where there is opposition from both parties, but Obama said he planned to do everything possible to persuade lawmakers to approve it before year’s end.
“The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped to clarify maritime rights in the region [South China Sea]”. That has pitted it against the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, all members of ASEAN, which have overlapping claims.
A court of arbitration in The Hague in July said China’s claims to the waterway were invalid, after a case was brought by the Philippines.
The Chinese leader said the peace and stability in the South China Sea is highly related to the prosperity and development of countries in the region.
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An artificial island at Scarborough Shoal could be a game changer in China’s quest to control the sea and raises the risk of armed confrontation with the U.S., according to security analysts.
