“[ASEAN and China] are committed to the full and effective implementation of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties [DOC] in its entirety, and working substantively towards the early adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea [COC] based on consensus”, said the joint statement, released from the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting now taking place in Vientianne, Laos, where China is also in attendance.
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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.
The Philippines and Vietnam both wanted the ruling, which denied China’s sweeping claims in the strategic seaway that channels more than $5 trillion in global trade each year, and a call to respect worldwide maritime law to feature in the communique.
“The page had now been turned”, on the issue after the tension caused by the court ruling, he said. “This will help to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea”, he wrote.
“Despite conflicts and challenges that have occurred in different parts of the world, peace, stability and development co-operation among nations remain the prevailing trend in this era”, he said.
To that end, ASEAN backed plans for the Philippines and China to hold direct talks on their dispute, he said.
“It seems like certain countries from outside the region have got all worked up keeping the fever high”, Wang told reporters.
The tribunal’s July 12 ruling delivered a victory to the Philippines, a USA ally, but angered China and appears set to heighten regional tensions.
“So far this year, relations between China and the United States have generally been stable, maintaining coordination and cooperation on bilateral, regional and worldwide level”.
The Foreign Minister said that this was an “important statement of principle that is worth emphasising” and it goes to the heart of the challenge for small states such as Singapore.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with his counterparts from South East Asia after they were unable to agree on a statement criticizing China for territorially expansion in the South China Sea.
Kerry will urge ASEAN nations to explore diplomatic ways to ease tension over Asia’s biggest potential military flashpoint, a senior US official said ahead of his trip.
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China claims most of the sea, but Asean members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have rival claims.
