United States President Barack Obama warned Beijing yesterday that it could not ignore an global tribunal’s “binding” ruling rejecting its sweeping claims to the South China Sea, prompting a rebuke from China.
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The Chinese ships were at Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), a small fishing ground within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone that China took control of in 2012.
All leaders of ASEAN countries speaking at the summit supported the efforts that have been made by China and ASEAN countries to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), Liu told a press briefing after the summit.
Together, they are meeting in the East Asia Summit in the Laotian capital.
ASEAN leaders on Wednesday released a statement saying they were “seriously concerned” over recent developments in the sea.
Amid the recent brinkmanship in the South China Sea, the chairman’s statement said that ASEAN aimed to promote peace and security in the region and stressed the importance “of non-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities, including land reclamation that could further complicate the situation and escalate tensions in the South China Sea”.
“I think Asean realised that regional peace and stability should be their priority and their cooperation and dialogue with China is essential to finding a solution to the maritime dispute”, he said. “The U.S. would be disappointed that Asean didn’t follow its lead in discussing the arbitration ruling”.
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. China claims virtually the entire sea as its own, citing historical reasons.
Reiterating its rejection of the tribunal ruling, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing that China hoped the USA can take “an objective and just attitude with respect to South China Sea issues”. It also rebuked China for forcibly preventing Filipinos from fishing in their traditional areas. China has rejected the decision questioning the legality of the tribunal.
But after their annual summit on Tuesday and Wednesday, Asean leaders held off on naming China or mentioning its rapid island-building in the area, widely seen as the source of the tension.
Disagreements between Chinese security officials and the White House during Obama’s visit to China, a dispute over the stairs that were to be rolled to Air Force One, and a profane outburst against him by the new president of the Philippines all fed a narrative that the president was under pressure in a region dominated by a rising China.
The Philippines took its dispute with China to the worldwide tribunal some years ago, but the country’s new president, Rodrigo Duterte, who took office on June 30, has been more conciliatory toward China.
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However, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said the discussion on the conflict at the event was “untimely and inappropriate”.
