A joint statement on China-ASEAN senior diplomat’s hot-line to address maritime emergencies, and a joint statement on accidental encounters between China and ASEAN in the South China Sea adopted at the summit bespoke the two sides’ willingness and wisdom to solve their disputes and manage their differences properly, as well their confidence and ability to maintain peace and stability in the region.
Advertisement
Relating to innovating production capacity cooperation mode, Li said China, Japan and South Korea have their respective advantages in equipment manufacturing, infrastructure construction, capital and human resources, which could be used in cooperating with ASEAN countries.
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dodged any mention of the Philippines’ historic case over the South China Sea in the ASEAN chairman’s statement this year.
Some 20,000 people have been killed or wounded since the war ended, Obama said after viewing displays of small rusted grenades and photos of a child missing a foot. He touted new military aid and USA support for regional cooperation in addressing maritime disputes and made a plug for the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, the policy’s central economic component that is now stuck in Congress. Two‐way trade has grown from US$8 billion (RM32.52 billion) 25 years ago to US$370 billion now, noted the Prime Minister.
Amid the continued security threats from terrorist organizations, he said the Asean should come together “in concert to ensure that the economic gains we made so far will advance at full speed”.
The upgraded protocol will enter into force for more than half of the parties this October.
It was also reported that Duterte refused to meet the United Nations secretary-general on the margins of the ASEAN Summit. These bring political, economic, and strategic benefits to both Filipinos and Americans.
Beijing claims nearly the entire South China Sea, through which more than US$5 trillion in shipborne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.
The Philippines has been central in this effort due to an worldwide court case it brought and won against Beijing. The decision infuriated Beijing, which dismissed the court’s authority to rule on the matter. According to Liu Zhenmin, China’s vice foreign minister, people-to-people exchanges would be viewed as a new pillar for China-ASEAN cooperation.
“Rather than setting a low bar, we should be flexible and pragmatic to secure a good quality agreement expeditiously, so that we can expand opportunities for our businesses and create a new viable pathway towards an eventual free-trade area of Asia-Pacific alongside the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership)”, said Mr Lee in comments released to the media after the retreat by Singaporean officials.
The results of the so-called Secret War in Laos, neither disclosed to the American people nor authorized by their representatives in Congress, were devastating.
Laos has had one of Asia’s fastest growth rates over the last decade, but critics say little has trickled down to the rural poor majority.
“Although China, Japan and other regional powers have been seeking to woo ASEAN, the bloc has some sort of suspicions over their intentions and feels the need to play a balancing act among the major powers”, said Yoon Jin-pyo, global politics professor at Sungshin Women’s University.
Advertisement
China, for its part, seeks to strengthen ties with ASEAN with its grand national strategy, called “One Belt One Road”.
