“There is recognition of the importance of the global arbitrational ruling in July, which is legal and binding and which clarified maritime claims by the Philippines and China in the South China Sea”, Obama said during a press conference at the end of the ASEAN Summit in Laos on Thursday.
Advertisement
They also underscored “the importance of exercising self-restraint in the conduct of the activities, and for the states concerned to resolve disputes through peaceful means in accordance with worldwide law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea”.
The US president also took on Beijing by reiterating that the July 12 worldwide tribunal ruling that rejected China’s claim to the South China sea was binding, AFP reported.
China claims much of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.
ASEAN leaders on Wednesday released a statement saying they were “seriously concerned” over recent developments in the sea.
The accusation by Chinese vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin came after the East Asia Summit in Vientiane ended without reprimanding China on its assertiveness in the waters, actions that have strained ties with its neighbours.
He did not elaborate, but such wording is typically used by Chinese leaders to refer to not allowing countries from outside the region with no direct involvement in the dispute, like the United States, from getting involved.
The Philippines and claimant-countries Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, and other ASEAN countries have issued a statement affirming their respect for global law. Since then, the U.S. has been stating that China should uphold the tribunal’s verdict.
The Chinese ships were at Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), a small fishing ground within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone that China took control of in 2012.
ASEAN held a separate meeting later Thursday with eight world powers, including China and the US, in a gathering known as the East Asia Summit.
The US has launched several waves of patrols in the waterway, ostensibly to uphold freedom of navigation. The growing frequency of military operations in the area has stoked tensions, as fears over miscalculations on the ground increase.
However, intensive Chinese lobbying helped to ensure there was no mention of the July ruling in the ASEAN statement.
The latter stands for ASEAN’s respective cooperation mechanism with China, Japan and South Korea.
“Countries in the region are the biggest beneficiaries of peace in the South China Sea. History and facts have repeatedly showed that the South China Sea can only be peaceful and stable so long as the regional countries themselves get hold of the key to fixing the problems”, Mr Li said.
On Wednesday, Asean and China agreed on confidence-building measures to reduce tensions in the South China Sea.
Advertisement
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying criticized Obama’s remarks as betraying the U.S.’s supposedly neutral stance on the arbitration, and said that if regional nations were “truly concerned about peace and stability in the South China Sea, [they would] support China” in the dispute, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
