His absence is striking because Malaysia is one of the claimants in the dispute with China in the South China Sea, which has dominated talks at this year’s ASEAN foreign minister’s talks. These are countries that are likely to be treated with respect by China’s foreign policy makers in the future.
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He, however, said ASEAN will issue the joint statement after all, but refused to say if the communique will contain a reference to South China Sea and China.
The eventual seven-paragraph section on the South China Sea in last year’s statement noted that ministers had discussed the issue “extensively” and “remain seriously concerned over recent and ongoing developments in the area”.
ASEAN has wanted to chastise China in its joint communique but has been unable to because of Cambodia, a close China ally.
China has been accused of teasing poorer members like Laos and Cambodia into fracturing regional unity with promises of aid and trade.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi described a side meeting her country held as a good faith measure to remind ASEAN members of what the group stands for. 2015, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and now the dispute in the South China Sea.
At the summit opening Laos foreign minister Saleumxay Kommasith listed the hur, dles facing the bloc as “territorial disputes, extremism and terrorism, natural disasters, climate change. refugee issues”.
President Park participated in China’s military parade and Seoul joined AIIB, but has mostly stayed out of South China Sea issue On July 13, two days after the Permanent Court of Arbitration made its ruling about the South China Sea, China’s state-run newspaper the China Daily printed a world map on its front page titled “China’s position”.
Four other nations besides China claim territory in the resource-rich South China Sea, including Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei, AsiaOne.com reported.
“We have been here before, and I hope they can solve it”, said one official from the ASEAN Secretariat in Indonesia.
“It’s very grave. Cambodia just opposes nearly everything, even reference to respect for legal and diplomatic processes which already has been in previous statements”, the diplomat said.
It is not clear whether Kerry intends to meet his counterpart Wang for talks during their visit.
A bland press statement issued at the end of the first round of talks Sunday said only that the ministers had a “candid and constructive exchange of views on regional and global issues.as well as developments in the Middle East, Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea”. The increasing military presence of China and the USA throughout the region has made the area a potential flashpoint.
China has already rejected such a meeting, and called for bilateral negotiations with the Philippines.
The bloc’s paralysis on how to respond comes as China ratchets up its rhetoric and military manoeuvres in the sea while hitting out at the United States which has backed rival claimants and argued for free passage through what it considers worldwide waters.
In a commentary Sunday, China’s official Xinhua News Agency urged East Asian nations to be vigilant against US “interference” in the region and to foster closer ties with China, “a market no country can afford to lose”. “The issue is how Laos will play their host role and how other countries contribute to the success of the meetings”.
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But Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin warned Asean against being influenced by outside powers.
