Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, speaking during yesterday’s summit, stressed that Asean’s overall relations with China were broader than the South China Sea alone.
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Liu Zhenmin did not identify any countries, but was responding to a question from a reporter about whether the leaders of Japan and the United States had raised concerns about the South China Sea.
Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim parts of the South China Sea, a vital waterway for global trade, which is also believed to be rich in energy resources and fish stocks.
At the same time, the Chinese government is also “tipping its hat” to the Russian government for its stand on the South China Sea.
“The landmark arbitration in July which is binding helped clarify maritime rights in the region”.
“I am seriously concerned with the continuing attempts to change unilaterally the status quo in the East and South China Sea”, Abe said in Laos.
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.
But it has vowed to ignore the ruling and the Philippines released photos on Wednesday claiming to show that Beijing was continuing with its island-building campaign.
China shot back with comments aimed at the US. This combination of September 3, 2016 photos provided by the Philippine Government shows what it says are surveillance pictures of Chinese coast guard ships and barges at the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
The US President’s statement came during a meeting with leaders of ASEAN member states.
The statement did not mention a ruling by an Arbitral Tribunal at The Hague in July that dismissed China’s historical claims to almost all of the South China Sea. Instead, Cambodia opposed including an explicit mention of the United Nations tribunal’s ruling, the official said. However, Beijing has insisted that it had not started building at the shoal – a move that could lead to a military outpost just 230km from the main Philippine island, where USA forces are stationed.
“A total of 16 out of 18 nations, including all Asean member nations, supported the joint efforts by China and Asean to push ahead with negotiations on the code of conduct on the South China Sea”, he said. “We should be on high alert on why those people keep hyping issue and spreading rumours about it”, she said.
The ten-member [ASEAN], which includes other claimants such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, instead confined their remarks to a relatively anodyne statement saying that ASEAN nations affirmed their respect for worldwide law.
“No new action has been taken by China”.
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China’s embassy in Manila said in a statement on Wednesday that there had been no dredging or building at the shoal and China had maintained a coastguard presence there for law enforcement patrols.
