China has sent a coded warning to the United States to stay out of the South China Sea dispute after Beijing was again accused of building permanent structures on islands in the area.
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“The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped to clarify maritime rights in the region”, Obama told Southeast Asian leaders at a summit in Laos.
U.S. -Thai relations, once among Washington’s strongest in Asia, are also fraying, providing another key opening for China’s divide and rule tactics.
The East Asia statement to be released later Thursday was also going to give a muted response, according to a draft obtained by AFP. The final version was not immediately released.
The economies of ASEAN states are deeply intertwined with mainland China, giving Beijing some political leverage over them.
Russian Federation supports China’s stance on the South China Sea issue and opposes any third party interference, Putin told a news conference after the G20 summit in China. “In some sense they are being self-isolated”, he said.
ASEAN leaders at their earlier summit on Tuesday expressed concern over China’s island-building.
Amid the recent brinkmanship in the South China Sea, the chairman’s statement said that ASEAN aimed to promote peace and security in the region and stressed the importance “of non-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities, including land reclamation that could further complicate the situation and escalate tensions in the South China Sea”.
China has turned shoals and coral reefs into seven man-made islands and built airstrips capable of handling military aircraft on three of them.
The US says it has no position on the territorial disputes but wants to ensure freedom of navigation.
The lukewarm rebuke is a reflection of China’s diplomatic, economic and military clout within the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is spearheading the summit with the United States, China and six other nations: Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Li said he hoped bilateral relations could “realise healthy, stable development”, the statement said.
The Yomiuri ShimbunEnsuring freedom of navigation, not allowing attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo and seeking to resolve disputes in line with worldwide law – we want to see such a rule of law established in the South China Sea. Cambodia did however block an explicit mention of the tribunal’s ruling, which the Philippines was willing to concede, the official said.
Some countries outside the region, displaying a Cold War mentality, have attempted to meddle in issues in the region, breaking the original regional balance and sowing discord between China and ASEAN members in recent years.
China’s claim that it has historical rights to most of the South China Sea is unacceptable under worldwide rules. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims.
The US has been a staunch ally of the Philippines, and China has repeatedly blamed the US for stirring up trouble in the South China Sea.
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Arriving for a G20 summit in China last week, his staff argued with airport security officials over media access, and a meeting in Laos with the Philippines’ new president was called off after he alluded to Obama as “a son of a bitch”. Two or more countries are said to have touched on the court of arbitration ruling during the meeting.
