The US president also took on Beijing by reiterating that the July 12 worldwide tribunal ruling that rejected China’s claim to the South China sea was binding, AFP reported.
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But the substance and symbolism had to compete with off-key incidents: verbal clashes between Chinese security officials and White House staff members after Obama’s arrival in Hangzhou; a dispute in China over the stairs that were to be rolled out to Air Force One, which forced the president to exit the plane through a smaller doorway; and a profane outburst against Obama by the new president of the Philippines.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Obama and leaders from other regional powers are also in Laos this week for separate meetings with ASEAN.
Philippines defence spokesman Arsenio Andolong said, “We are monitoring their presence and activities, which are disturbing”. He said the leaders had helped create a unified voice against North Korea in the wake of missile launches that stirred further concerns about the North’s nuclear program.
China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts or all of the South China Sea, making it a hot spot of regional tension.
President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte, together with some Cabinet members and business leaders, poses for a photo at the 13th ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Moung Thanh Luxury Hotel in Vientiane, Laos on Tuesday (September 6, 2016).
But there was no row over the issue at the summit.
Meanwhile, a Xinhua news agency commentary yesterday called Mr Obama’s USA rebalance to Asia a “narrow-minded scheme orchestrated to maintain his country’s hegemony and corrosive to the region’s peace and stability”.
A U.S. administration official questioned the Philippine’s claim, telling AFP the United States had not detected any unusual activity at Scarborough Shoal.
But the Philippines on Wednesday released images it said showed Chinese ships in the area that were capable of dredging sand and other activities required to build an artificial island.
The prime minister told reporters leaders had also responded positively to an offer he made at a dinner on Wednesday night to host an Asean summit in Australia in 2018.
The leaders stressed the need for ASEAN members and China to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, signed by the grouping and China in 2002, in its entirety.
The July 12 United Nations ruling on the South China Sea ended a three-year-long worldwide arbitration started by the Philippines, but China dismissed the results out of hand, with state media calling the verdict “waste paper”.
Reiterating its rejection of the tribunal ruling, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing that China hoped the U.S. can take “an objective and just attitude with respect to South China Sea issues”.
Although the Scarborough Shoal is merely a few rocks poking above the sea, it is important to the Philippines because of the fish stocks in the area.
Analysts say the Scarborough Shoal could be a strategic foothold for China. An Obama aide yesterday downplayed the significance of the photos, saying the USA had not detected unusual activity at Scarborough Shoal.
The statement, seen by Reuters, made no reference to The Hague ruling.
Duterte wants China to abide by the ruling and stuck to his promise not to raise the issue during the meeting in Laos.
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“We moved past that (arbitration) issue during the July China-ASEAN foreign ministers meeting, we hope that such countries won’t keep bringing up things of the past to stir up trouble and affect China-ASEAN relations”.
