It’s the first time the foreign ministers have met since the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration handed down its decision into the dispute between the Philippines and China, dismissing the latter’s “historic rights” to vast swathes of the South China Sea.
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The US did not take a position on the disputes, Kerry said, but believed “the rule of law must be upheld”.
The “legal basis” will now have to give way to the diplomatic process “that we have to pursue precisely for the peaceful resolution of these disputes”, he said.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr on Wednesday, July 27, flip-flopped on seeking the support of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the Philippines’ legal victory against China over the disputed South China Sea.
But China dismissed the court’s verdict and said it would not affect its claims. China has said it will “never” halt its work on the artificial islands.
Kerry, who is in Manila after attending the meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Vientiane, Laos, cited the Duterte administration for the “very responsible and measured way” it responded to the global arbitration ruling, which invalidated China’s historical claims to the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone at the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
China was particularly vexed by Japan’s involvement in the statement against it, with a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman urging Japan “not to hype up and meddle in the South China Sea issue” because it is “not a concerned party” and because “its disgraceful history” leaves Japan in “no place to make irresponsible comments about China”.
Kerry said he had a “constructive meeting” on how the US and China would proceed on this issue with Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Forum. “The arbitral award is a matter between the China and the Philippines …”
Rice was in China from Sunday till today for talks with Chinese officials to prepare for US President Barack Obama’s attendance at the G20 summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in September, both Beijing and Washington have said.
Cambodia is also pushing to strike out any reference to the militarization of the South China Sea, watering down the language in statements issued previously by ASEAN this year. “And we agree with that…no claimant should be acting in a way that is provocative, no claimant should take steps that wind up raising tensions”. “All means. So you can count (international arbitration) but we attach importance to bilateral negotiations”, he said in the interview on the sidelines of a regional security meeting being hosted by Laos.
The US will continue naval patrols in the disputed South China Sea, Washington’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice told Chinese representatives during a series of meetings in Beijing, a senior American official said Tuesday.
It says all disputes should be resolved bilaterally.
“We have been here before, and I hope they can solve it”, an official from the Indonesian ASEAN Secretariat told Reuters.
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Cambodia, China’s closest ally, failed to mention the ruling against China in their statements, according to the diplomats. This is widely seen as his attempt to maintain a low key approach to the maritime disputes with China.
