South China Sea: South-east Asian nations avoid criticising Beijing over territorial claims

South-east Asian nations have avoided rebuking Beijing or mentioning an international court ruling against its claims in the South China Sea in their joint statement.

Foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of South-East Nations (ASEAN) gathered for a regional summit in the Laos capital, Vientiane.

The meeting was the first time since the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled there was no legal basis for Beijing's claims to vast swathes of the South China Sea.

The Philippines and Vietnam both wanted the landmark ruling and a call to respect international maritime law to feature in the bloc's communique.

China's ally Cambodia opposed the wording on the ruling, diplomats said, throwing talks at the weekend into disarray.

The statement was finally released on Monday after Manila agreed to drop the reference to the ruling.

The communique referred instead to the need to find peaceful resolutions to disputes in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, including the United Nations' law of the sea, to which the court ruling referred.

"We remain seriously concerned about recent and ongoing developments ... on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region," the communique said.

It was important to avoid militarisation of the region, and for freedom of navigation to be maintained, ASEAN said.

China thanks Cambodia for support

Four ASEAN members — Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei — have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South China Sea.

Beijing said the July 12 court decision had no bearing on its rights in the sea, and described the case as a farce.

It publicly thanked Cambodia for supporting its stance on maritime disputes.

"China greatly approves of Cambodia and other ASEAN countries taking charge of impartiality and safeguarding fairness," China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

The United States, allied with the Philippines and cultivating closer relations with Vietnam, has called on China to respect the court's ruling.

It has criticised China's building of artificial islands and facilities in the sea and has sailed warships close to the disputed territory to assert freedom of navigation rights.

China frequently blames the United States for raising tensions in the region and has warned regional rival Japan to steer clear of the dispute.

"We will not permit any outside force to seek to exploit and hype up the so-called South China Sea arbitration case and bring chaos to this region," Mr Wang said.

Vietnam, China, Malaysia have eyes on the prize

Explore the conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea

Rich in resources and traversed by a quarter of global shipping, the South China Sea is the stage for several territorial disputes that threaten to escalate tensions in the region.

At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups - the Spratly Islands, off the coast of the Philippines, and the Paracel Islands, off the coasts of Vietnam and China.

(Source : abc.net.au)

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