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Participants in the Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting attempt to form a united front in Vientiane, Laos. Photo: Xinhua

Asean split on joint response to South China Sea row

Foreign Minister Wang Yi embarked on a flurry of bilateral talks with Southeast Asian nations in Vientiane on Sunday, as his Asean counterparts failed to make a collective stand on maritime ­disputes in the South China Sea.

The ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations met for the first time since the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague handed an emphatic legal victory to the Philippines in the maritime ­dispute earlier this month.

The ruling denied China’s sweeping claims in the strategic seaway, through which more than US$5 trillion in global trade passes each year. China claims most of the sea, but Asean members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have rival claims. Despite several hours of talks ­yesterday, the ministers remained deadlocked because Cambodia did not want China criticised, ­diplomats said.

“[Cambodia is] really a loyalist of the ‘big country C’,” a diplomat who attended the closed-door meetings said, referring to China.

The Philippines and Vietnam both wanted the meeting's communique to refer to the ruling and the need to respect international law, Asean diplomats said.

But in the run-up to the meeting, China’s closest Asean ally Cambodia opposed mentioning the ruling, throwing the group into disarray.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi talks to the media during the 49th Asean Foreign Minister meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Sunday. Photo: EPA

Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon declined to comment on his country’s position.

One Asean diplomat said the group had given itself until tomorrow to reach an agreement and issue a statement. Asean members will also meet Wang and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Wang said the South China Sea was only a “small part” of the issues concerning Asean and China’s priority was to promote a code of conduct for the waters.

Wang also said a meeting with Philippine Foreign Minister ­Perfecto Yasay would depend on “mutual willingness”.

After talks with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan, Wang said the two countries reached a consensus to “jointly exclude interference” and bolster Sino-Asean mutual trust. Singapore has not declared its position on the South China Sea disputes.

China reacted angrily to ­Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio ­Ki­shida’s suggestion that he would discuss the South China Sea if he met Wang. Kishida is also in Laos for the forum but it was not clear if the two would meet.

Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the sea was not Japan’s concern. “We urge Japan not to ... meddle,” he said. “Japan is not a concerned party in the South China Sea.”

Reuters, Associated Press

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