“The ministers voiced their strong opposition to any coercive unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions”, said Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Ministers Fumio Kishida and Julie Bishop in a statement.
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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said a page had been turned after the “deeply flawed” ruling and it was time to lower the temperature in the dispute.
Beijing claims sovereignty over around 90 percent of the resource-rich sea, while other Asian nations have their own claims.
Tensions in the region have escalated in recent years amid altercations, exchange of accusations between respective governments, as well as a rise in Chinese military presence in the area.
Southeast Asian nations were thrown into disarray after Cambodia on Saturday blocked them from issuing a statement referring to an worldwide court ruling against China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, diplomats said.
Asked about China’s insistence that the Philippines must disregard the global tribunal’s decision for bilateral talks between the two to move forward, Abella said the situation was “not a stalemate”.
On Tuesday, Kerry said he would urge the Philippines to continue talks with China regarding the sea.
The South China Sea is a highly-contested region through which almost $5 trillion in worldwide trade passes annually.
China scored a diplomatic victory on Monday as ASEAN dropped any reference to the court ruling in a joint statement in the face of resolute objections from Cambodia, China’s closest ASEAN ally.
In Vientiane, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for an end to the “political manipulation and sensationalisation” of the South China Sea and reiterated a desire for the USA to help support a return to direct bilateral negotiations between Beijing and Manila.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement echoed this sentiment, adding that disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved “in accordance with the universally recognized principals of global law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”.
Meanwhile, the head of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, has told a forum in Tokyo that the United States believes South China Sea claimants should use the July 12 decision as a “new opportunity to renew efforts to address their maritime disputes peacefully”.
The ruling was rejected as “invalid” by China, which prior to the verdict had already declared that it does not consider the tribunal to have jurisdiction in the dispute.
It sends out a positive message that China and the ASEAN will jointly maintain stability in the South China Sea, Wang said.
“The President did mention that whatever talks we will engage in will begin with the ruling, that will be the foundation, the ruling regarding the area”, the President’s spokesperson, Ernesto Abella, later told reporters.
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John Richardson says he and his Chinese counterpart discussed increasing port visits between the two navies during the CNO’s visit to Beijing earlier this month.
