The Philippines “vigorously pushed” for the inclusion of a arbitration ruling in an ASEAN statement but the grouping’s decision not to mention it was not a victory for China, Manila’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
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In the document, ministers said they remained “seriously concerned over recent and ongoing developments” in the South China Sea, where China is in a territorial dispute with the Philippines, an ASEAN member.
Speaking later at a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Yasay said there were no losers in Laos and the issuance of a joint communique was a triumph for the 10-member bloc.
Despite China’s stance, Kerry said the USA will try to work going forward to settle the issue through a diplomatic process, “whatever available legal institutions there are to support a process”.
Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.
China’s dismissal of the court ruling as illegitimate presented a challenge, Kerry said. “And we agree with that … no claimant should be acting in a way that is provocative, no claimant should take steps that wind up raising tensions”.
In response during their meeting Monday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated China’s position on the issue, the official said. Apart from China and the Philippines, these involve Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
“States only comply with worldwide law when it serves their interests”, Muhamad Arif, researcher at the Habibie Center think-tank, said on Tuesday during a discussion organized by the center in Jakarta.
“We will begin with the ruling – that will be the foundation”, said Duterte’s spokesman, Ernesto Abella.
A Philippine flag flutters from BRP Sierra Madre, a dilapidated Philippine Navy ship that has been aground since 1999 and became a Philippine military detachment on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands, in the South China Sea March 29, 2014.
Wang told China Daily on Tuesday night that the three-day meetings were a success, and “the biggest consensus between China and ASEAN this year is to return to the track of resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation” after the arbitration ruling.
China rejected the tribunal ruling on the South China Sea as “waste paper” and asserted its right, if it chooses, to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone controlling flights over the area.
US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) gestures as he talks with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during his visit to the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila on July 27, 2016.
“The Philippines has an unhappy history of extrajudicial killings and violence (against) journalists and others”, a USA official told reporters travelling with the secretary.
Failure to properly handle sensitive issues between the US and China could “very likely disturb and undermine” their military-to-military relations, a top Chinese official told US National Security Adviser Susan Rice Monday.
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China has also accused Japan of interfering in the dispute.
