“There is recognition of the importance of the global arbitrational ruling in July, which is legal and binding and which clarified maritime claims by the Philippines and China in the South China Sea”, Obama said during a press conference at the end of the ASEAN Summit in Laos on Thursday.
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On Wednesday, Philippine officials said Obama and Duterte met informally before attending a gala dinner, a day after Duterte expressed regret for calling Obama a “son of a bitch”.
Other claimants in the sea are the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei – all part of the 10-member ASEAN bloc meeting in Laos – plus Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei reported that Abe expressed deep concern about China’s “continued attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the South and East China seas over the past few months” and warned Southeast Asian leaders against taking too conciliatory a stance towards Beijing.
“The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped clarify maritime rights in the region”, Obama told a summit of Asian leaders in Laos on Thursday.
USA officials, however, said that there were other critical elements in the ASEAN statement that China failed to block, and which amounted to a strong diplomatic rebuke of Beijing. He urged ASEAN nations to work positively with each other to ease the tensions and stimulate regional stability.
China took control of Scarborough shoal in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippine Navy and has since deployed large fishing fleets while blocking Filipino fishermen (AFP).
President Rodrigo R. Duterte said the Philippines follows worldwide law in the disputed West Philippine Sea, which is a portion of the South China Sea.
The statement makes no reference to a July ruling by a court in The Hague that declared illegal some of China’s artificial islands in the sea and invalidated its claims to nearly the entire waterway.
Even Liu admitted that the South China Sea disputes, which had rarely been touched upon in the previous summits, had become a major topic this year.
The area is just 230km from the main island of the Philippines, where USA forces are stationed.
The Philippines’ move came after a dispute with the United States, its former colonial power.
Responding to questions on reports that Japan and Australia had discussed restraint in the South China Sea during a bilateral meeting at the summit, he said that such actions were “outdated”.
“It all springs from the fact that the relationship between the Philippines and the United States is firm, very strong”, Philippines’ foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, said of their meeting.
China shot back with comments aimed at the United States.
With the joint efforts of China and the ASEAN, the South China Sea situation has cooled down as both sides have worked together to eliminate interference and properly handle issues according to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and the “dual-track approach”.
China insisted repeatedly this week it was not undertaking any island-building activities at the shoal, and on Thursday repeated its rejection of the tribunal ruling. China at the time said it did not recognize the ruling.
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State media, including Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the official People’s Daily, on Friday described it as a diplomatic win for China while a senior diplomat declared that “the page had been turned over” regarding the July 12 ruling by an worldwide tribunal in The Hague that rebuked China’s historic claims in the South China Sea.
