Beijing came under pressure at an Asian summit on Wednesday for building islands “illegally” in the South China Sea, after the Philippines produced evidence showing construction activity at a flashpoint shoal.
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Obama had planned to discuss the sea issue during a meeting with Duterte on the sidelines of ASEAN.
It said the two sides recognized that maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea region serves the fundamental interests of ASEAN member states and China as well as the global community.
Is China building more islands in the disputed waters of the South China Sea?
During the meeting, they confirmed that Tokyo and Manila will cooperate to resolve the South China Sea issue in a peaceful manner, based on a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands, in July that rejected China’s claims in the dispute with the Philippines.
In a press conference, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Martin Andanar said the issue of the South China Sea was mentioned during the ASEAN-China Dialogue.
Officials said that talks on Wednesday between ASEAN leaders and China’s Li had gone smoothly. The group, on January 1, was formally constituted as Asean Community, with a population of 622 million people and a GDP of $2.5 trillion.
“The island has been blockaded since 2012 but hasn’t been built up so this would be new”, said Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Study Centre at the University of Sydney and a visiting fellow at the Center for Asia-Pacific Cooperation and Governance at Fudan University in Shanghai.
China said it wants to work with ASEAN to “dispel interference” in the disputed South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said during the Summit. As photographs of the purported barges and construction vessels have been released, they do not appear to justify concerns about imminent Chinese construction at the shoal, but do indicate China remains prepared to deny Filipino fishermen access to the shoal’s rich fishery, in violation of July’s Hague ruling under the U.N. Law of the Sea. The Philippines said on Wednesday it was seeking clarification from China about the increase in ships near the shoal.
“The situation concerning Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal) is unchanged”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here, reacting to allegations by the Philippines.
The use of the phrase “some leaders” in the two statements underscores the fundamental problem ASEAN and the wider East Asia Summit has in dealing with China – not all its members are willing to scold Beijing.
An artificial island at Scarborough Shoal could be a game changer in China’s quest to control the sea and raises the risk of armed confrontation with the United States, according to security analysts.
A spectacular sideshow in Laos this week has been a spat between Obama and the acid-tongued Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose nations are longtime allies.
China and the Philippines, traditionally the US’ closest ally in Southeast Asia, have reportedly discussed “revitalizing” bilateral ties in such key areas as tourism and customs, amid President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent harsh rhetoric for United States officials. Asked on Monday about the presence of new ships, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry said there has been no change in China’s policy or posture and urged reporters not to “hype” the matter.
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But it has vowed to ignore the ruling and the Philippines released photos on Wednesday claiming to show that Beijing was continuing with its island-building campaign.
