Cambodia’s position was the right one and would safeguard unity of Asean and cooperation with China, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon, according to a statement posted on China’s Foreign Ministry website early on Monday.
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This is in essence the same strategy that the United States has taken toward the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose country members do not have a common stance on the South China Sea award.
“It’s really a loyalist of the big country C”, a diplomat who attended closed-door meetings in the Laotian capital, Vientiane, told the Associated Press news agency.
Chinese pressure was blamed last month for a startling show of discord by bloc, with countries swiftly disowning a joint statement released by Malaysia after an ASEAN-China meeting.
An ASEAN statement, Yasay said, backing the legal and diplomatic processes being pursued by the Philippines will not only reflect ASEAN respect for a rules-based order, but also reaffirm ASEAN’s “centrality and solidarity in the regional security architecture”. Singapore has not declared its position on the South China Sea disputes.
Another diplomat, when asked if Monday’s statement had been watered down, said: “It’s a compromise statement”.
Those divisions were on stark display once more in Vientiane on Sunday as regional foreign ministers met for talks.
“The decision has provided a solid legal foundation on which a ru”.
Even after a late-night meeting of foreign ministers called to thrash out the issue late on Saturday, the region’s top diplomats were unable to find a compromise. Regarding the Western Pacific region, in the final communiqué adopted at the Warsaw summit in July 8-9, NATO’s leaders only expressed generic concerns about the nuclear threat coming from North Korea, with no hint of the South China Sea problem. He is expected to discuss maritime issues in a meeting with Mr Wang, as well as in meetings with Asean members.
The contested sea, through which $5tn in shipping passes annually, has been a source of increasing tension between China and its south-east Asian neighbours as well as the US.
The joint statement outlines that all parties recognize that maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea region serves not only the fundamental interests of ASEAN member states and China, but also the worldwide community.
The UN-backed worldwide tribunal supported a case brought by the Philippines this month, rejecting Chinese claims to rights in the sea.
Washington says it takes no position on the territorial disputes, but argues for free sea and air passage through what it considers global waters. “We need as a whole [for] ASEAN to voice the importance of protecting our home”, Marsudi said.
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China has rejected the ruling as bogus, and called for bilateral negotiations with the Philippines. They chose to meet again on Monday morning ahead of their scheduled meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
