“With regards to security, our nations reaffirmed our commitment to a regional order, where global rules and laws are upheld and where disagreements are all peacefully resolved”.
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VIENTIANE, Laos – (UPDATE 2 – 1:27 p.m.) US President Barack Obama warned Thursday an global tribunal’s ruling that China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea had no legal basis was “binding” after Beijing vowed to ignore the verdict.
The six-page, 28-point declaration devoted one paragraph to the South China Sea.
Duterte is seeking to boost ties with China in the face of a dispute between Manila and Beijing over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
In July, the United Nations arbitration court dismissed China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying it has “no historic title” to the vast maritime region.
In July, the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in the Hague, ruled favoring Philippines claims on the South China Sea.
National University of Singapore Professor Huang Jing said Asean refrained from siding with the U.S. and Japan because it did not want to embarrass China over the arbitration ruling, which Beijing saw as a sweeping setback.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, too, is attending the meeting as his country is part of the ASEAN.
Obama said on Thursday the ruling had helped clarify maritime rights.
China angrily vowed to ignore the ruling, describing it as “waste paper”.
The tribunal also said that China violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights and had caused “severe harm to the coral reef environment” by building artificial islands.
China said it wants to work with ASEAN to “dispel interference” in the disputed South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said during the Summit.
It was an apparent attempt to publicize its concerns before ASEAN leaders met with Chinese Premier Li Kequiang in the Laotian capital in a side summit.
At talks in Vientiane, Laos, American President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed backing for Pacific Rim nations threatened by Chinese expansion and militarization in disputed waters.
Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said yesterday it had been “inappropriate” for two countries, which he did not name, to bring up the arbitration issue during the summit. Taiwan and four ASEAN members – Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei – also have claims, making it a hot spot of regional tension.
Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, also told a daily briefing in Beijing that there had been no change in the situation around the Scarborough Shoal and that China had not taken any new action there.
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Though Beijing recently announced a $600 million aid package to ally Cambodia, China was unable to get it to block the statement, said the official.
