A tribunal based in The Hague this month ruled that China’s claim to most of the strategic waterway was inconsistent with global law.
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Yasay made the remarks at a news conference on Wednesday in Manila, held before his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
“I assured Secretary Kerry that we will pursue our planning process for the full implementation of EDCA”.
Bonnie Glaser, Director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and Internatonal Studies (CSIS), told VOA that Washington “has not excluded other forms of negotiations and has stressed that multilateral mechanisms should be employed as well, especially when bilateral talks prove fruitless”.
HIs visit comes amid the raging maritime dispute between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea.
“Conversation will continue to proceed”, he said.
Yasay also said he wanted China to take a position so that dialogue could happen but did not say whether the Philippines would insist that the arbitration ruling be discussed. The two previously met in Beijing in late April.
Kerry is due to fly to Manila for talks with Duterte later Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters in Vientiane, Philippines Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay said the dispute was not between China and the United States but between China and the Philippines.
The Asean statement did not mention the tribunal ruling but called for the peaceful resolution of disputes, including “full respect for legal and diplomatic processes”, without resorting to the threat or use of force and in accordance with worldwide law.
“The US position is slightly undercut because it’s not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, but nevertheless it sees itself as a counterweight to China”.
Kerry said on Tuesday he supported the resumption of talks between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea following an worldwide court ruling against Beijing over the dispute earlier this month.
Japan is unwilling to change its stance of strengthenimg pressure on China, buoyed by the court of arbitration ruling.
“Now it is the time to test whether you are peacekeepers or troublemakers”, said Wang, referring to the three countries. “The rights of the countries should always be respected”, Kerry said.
The three countries issued the statement late on Monday at the conclusion of the trilateral strategic dialogue held between Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and her United States counterpart John Kerry and Japan’s Fumio Kishida, on the sidelines of a South-east Asian regional security conference in Vientiane, Laos. It’s a victory that is sure to buoy China as it gears up for the ASEAN Regional Forum, which opens on July 26 with representatives present from many relevant countries, including the US.
Despite China’s stance, Kerry said the USA will try to work going forward to settle the issue through a diplomatic process, “whatever available legal institutions there are to support a process”.
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China early on declared that the Permanent Court of Arbitration had no jurisdiction over the dispute because it was Chinese territory; and further, that the Philippines had previously agreed to negotiate directly with China on the issue.
