The 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) instead repeated it was “seriously concerned” by “land reclamations and escalation of activities” and merely called for self-restraint in the strategic waterway.
Advertisement
Manila agreed to drop the reference to the ruling in the communique, one ASEAN diplomat said on Monday, in an effort to prevent the disagreement leading to the group failing to issue a statement.
China chalked up a major diplomatic victory Monday after Southeast Asian nations refrained from criticizing it for its territorial expansion in the South China Sea.
U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice held talks with Chinese officials Monday in the highest-level visit by a White House official since an worldwide tribunal issued a ruling that invalidated China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea.
Much to the chagrin of China, the tribunal concluded there was no legal basis for it to claim historic rights to resources within the area falling within its so-called “nine-dash line” – an invisible boundary which carved out the the majority of the waters for itself.
China claims more than 90 percent of the South China Sea, an area which accounts for more than a tenth of global fisheries production and is also claimed in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. But Cambodia opposed the move, and Beijing has publicly thanked it for its support.
The South China Sea matter is a test of the unity and central role of Asean, Vietnam’s government said in a statement on its website, referring to the Laos meeting.
Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon arrives at a meeting at the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Vientiane, Laos July 25, 2016.
Staunch Beijing ally Cambodia has been accused of scuppering efforts by the bloc to issue a joint statement calling on Beijing to adhere to the United Nations tribunal’s decision. They chose to meet again on Monday morning ahead of their scheduled meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The envoys spent most of the time discussing cooperation and only one country mentioned the ruling, Wang said. He repeated Beijing’s line the tribunal ruling was “deeply flawed” and said this “page has to be turned over”. “But failure to even mention the landmark legal ruling once again highlights ASEAN’s inability to present a united front and China’s skill at using Cambodia as a proxy to further its own interests”, said Ian Ward, a senior fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies think-tank.
Advertisement
This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region. “I would say that discussion was about 20 percent of our time”. It goes to the heart of the challenge for small states like us, ” he wrote. It remains unclear when Wang and Kerry will meet for talks.
