Cambodia is China’s closest ASEAN ally and is the only country opposing any reference to the ruling in a statement due to be issued after ASEAN foreign ministers meet on Sunday, an ASEAN diplomat told Reuters.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (second from the left) talks with Vivian Balakrishnan alongside Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh, at the opening of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Vientiane, Laos, July 25. Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry told reporters that Cambodia did not block Asean from mentioning The Hague’s verdict in a statement.
“One such issue is how should China, which controls Scarborough Shoal, provide for the Philippines’ traditional fishing rights in and around the shoal, which have now been recognized as legally valid”, said Peter Dutton from the U.S. Naval War College.
Efforts to forge a united ASEAN front on the issue have crumbled in recent years as mainland China has successfully lobbied Cambodia and Laos, which are members of the bloc but mainland allies.
He said that “we are pleased by the joint communique” achieved on Monday in the meeting between ASEAN member states and China, which renewed commitment to managing the disputes.
Mr. Yasay was speaking after returning to Manila from the meeting in Laos, where Asean dropped a US-backed proposal to mention the landmark July 12 court ruling, which nullified Beijing’s claims to most of the South China Sea.
ASEAN member countries are facing a dilemma: safeguard good relations with China or take a tough stance on its claims in the South China Sea and therefore jeopardize diplomatic and economic relations with the giant economy (China is a major trading partner as well as big source of foreign investment in several of the ASEAN member nations).
“It may or may not happen, but the objective is to resolve the disputes based on worldwide law and Unclos”, Yasay said.
An worldwide arbitration tribunal at The Hague in the Netherlands recently rejected China’s unilateral Nine-Dash Line, which attempted to set its maritime limits from Taiwan to the Natuna Islands off Borneo in Indonesia.
The South China Sea is a highly-contested region through which almost $5 trillion in worldwide trade passes annually.
“The decision itself is a binding decision”, Kerry said at a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. “I pushed for the inclusion and mentioning of the arbitral tribunal award”.
“We’re not trying to create a confrontation”.
Kerry supported Yasay’s call for China to take a position so bilateral dialogue could happen and said he was confident Manila would make the right judgements in how to move forward.
Philippine Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella later said in a media briefing that during a lunch meeting between Kerry and President Rodrigo Duterte the two officials had discussed issues such as terrorism, crimes, drugs, religious fanaticism and maritime security.
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Rice also told Chinese officials, who included a top military officer, that US military operations were created to contribute to peace and stability wherever they happened, including in the South China Sea, the official said.
