The Philippines, which had sought the inclusion of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s decision in the joint statement, eventually backed down to prevent the bloc from failing to issue any communiqué whatsoever, as it did in Phnom Penh in 2012 during the 45th Asean Foreign Ministers meeting-over the same territorial dispute.
Advertisement
He also claimed it was the Philippines’ own Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Perfecto Yasay, who asserted at the Asean meeting that the South China Sea dispute should be kept between his country and Beijing.
However, the Wall Street Journal notes that China and the Philippines have locked horns over the fundamental issue of whether bilateral talks would ignore the Hague ruling in favor of the Philippines, as China demands.
“The decision itself is a binding decision but we’re not trying to create a contradiction, we’re trying to create a solution – mindful of the rights of people that are established under the law”.
Kerry flies to Manila on Tuesday and is scheduled to meet with the Philippines new president, Rodrigo Duterte, on Wednesday.
While it is seen by some as a deviation from the US position, a senior State Department official said Washington has never opposed direct talks between Beijing and Manila and a bilateral talk has always been an option.
“The other countries are not part of our filing of the case before the arbitral tribunal so why would we insist that it be put in the Asean statement”, Yasay said. A lack of mention of an worldwide tribunal’s recent ruling favouring the Philippines showed an understanding that sensitive issues should not get in the way of progress.
Kerry is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the Philippines since Duterte’s election victory in May and follows a meeting of foreign ministers from Southeast Asian nations in Laos this week.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has criticised the United States, Japan and Australia for making a joint statement on the South China Sea he says was only “fanning the flames” of regional tension just as countries have agreed that the situation needs to cool down. In addition to China and the Philippines, overlapping claims have also been made by Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei.
Which is why, he said, “in Vientiane, and now, the USA urges all claimants in the South China Sea to exercise full restraint”.
China, in turn, has said nations should not develop and inhabit “presently uninhabited” islands and reefs, which is being taken as a signal that Beijing might ease up on reclaiming territory and building military installations, in the interest of easing tensions.
China’s foreign ministry said Wang again urged Tokyo not to intervene in the South China Sea, saying Japan was not a claimant in the disputes and should avoid interfering in up the maritime spats.
Advertisement
China’s reclamation work in the region has prompted the USA and its allies to express alarm over the maritime expansion, which they suspect is aimed at extending its military reach.
