VIENTIANE, Laos-US President Barack Obama put the long-simmering dispute in the South China Sea front and center on the agenda at a regional summit on Thursday as it became clear that most of the other leaders gathered in the Laotian capital were going to let China off with a mild rebuke over its territorial expansion in the resource-rich waters.
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Obama said on Thursday the ruling had helped clarify maritime rights.
Closing out his final presidential trip to Asia, Obama said his meetings with foreign leaders during stops in China and Laos had illustrated that governing is “serious business” requiring knowledge, preparation and thought-out policies that can actually be implemented.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that China sent a coded warning to the U.S. to stay out of the South China Sea dispute.
In a summit meeting between China and ASEAN countries that was held ahead of the EAS meeting, it was confirmed that a framework for agreeing on a code of conduct in the South China Sea would be reached by the middle of next year. But, Beijing rejected the judgment.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including islands more than 800 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the Chinese mainland, despite objections from neighbors including the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
To maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, it is essential for the worldwide community as a whole to share with Japan and the United States an awareness of the issues and apply continued pressure on China.
Running counter to the trend of solving disputes through dialogue and consultation, only two countries outside the region proposed pushing the so-called South China Sea “arbitration” at the summit. China and Southeast Asian nations have been discussing the hotline since 2015.
While ASEAN may have acquiesced to China’s demands not to mention the PCA verdict in any joint statement, there were indications the grouping’s position has stiffened somewhat amid reports China is rapidly militarizing numerous islands, reefs and atolls it claims.
The Philippines filed the arbitration case against China in January 2013 to seek clarification of its maritime entitlements in the South China Sea under the 1982 convention, following China’s aggressive assertion of its claims there.
The Philippines released images yesterday claiming to show Chinese ships preparing to build the artificial island, hours before leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Laos. Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei are some of the countries that have disputed Bejing’s claims over the sea.
In this meeting, Duterte urged ASEAN and China to “be on the side of peace”, Andanar said.
Li heads the State Council of China, which is “the highest organ of state power” and “highest organ of state administration there”.
China said there had been no change in the situation around the shoal and it had not taken any new action there.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China has not done anything to alter the circumstances surrounding the shoal.
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“China has confidence that it can work with the Philippines to progressively improve our relationship”, he said, adding that ties with the new government of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had started well.
