Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday urged Japan not to intervene in the South China Sea issue.
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It appeared in the second paragraph of the adopted communique yesterday that “We [Asean foreign ministers] reaffirm our shared commitment to maintaining and promoting peace, security and stability in the region, as well as to the peaceful resolution of disputes, including full respect for legal and diplomatic processes, without resorting to the threat or use of force, in accordance with the universally recognised principles of global law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos)”.
The State Department said later that behind closed doors Kerry and the other foreign ministers had “affirmed ASEAN’s full respect for diplomatic and legal processes to peacefully resolve disputes”.
Diplomats gathered for a summit in the Laos capital spent days wrangling over how to respond to this month’s ruling by a Hague-based tribunal which delivered a hammer blow to most of China’s historical claims over the region.
Competing claims with China in the vital shipping lane are among the most contentious issues for the 10 members of ASEAN, who are pulled between their desire to assert their sovereignty while fostering ties with an increasingly assertive Beijing. Beijing says the ruling has no bearing on its rights in the sea, and described the case as a farce. “China-Sea-claim-how-it-could-shape-future-disputes-video” class=”local_link” target=”_blank”>had no basis for its expansive claims to territorial waters around the Philippines.
Apart from the airports, other civilian facilities include maritime 4G signals to all seven inhabited islets in the Nansha Islands.
China says its development of the islands is aimed at providing public services as well as cementing its claim to sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea.
Chinese President Xi Jinping waits for the arrival of US National Security Adviser Susan Rice (not pictured) for their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 25, 2016.
ASEAN most recently struggled to agree on wording on the issue in June, when Malaysia released and then retracted a joint statement from foreign ministers that expressed “serious concerns” over developments in the waters.
China, which refused to take part in the arbitration or implement the tribunal’s ruling, has insisted the disputes will not affect its relations with Asean.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said cryptically: “It’s very positive”.
Kerry arrived in Laos on Monday and is expected to hold talks with Wang later in the day. In complete disagreement is Cambodia, a close China ally, and even Laos although its opposition is somewhat muted because of its role as the host of the series of regional meetings this week.
Yasay cited that the ruling is “final and binding to all parties concerned, is a clearly established fact” and that it has “significant implications for the entire region, not just the coastal states bordering the South China Sea”.
Representatives from China and the United States are scheduled to meet to discuss China’s position later in the week.
With ASEAN operating on a consensus principle that effectively gives each country a veto power when forming a stand on various issues, regional experts are skeptical of a joint communique that would put strong language on maritime disputes.
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Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is also in Laos, making her debut at ASEAN meetings as the foreign minister for Myanmar.
