Manila avoids tough China talk at Asean

The Asean regional bloc wrapped up its annual summit on Saturday with host country the Philippines extending an olive branch to China over the contested South China Sea.

Manila resisted pressure from other bloc members to take a tougher line with Beijing as it grows increasingly assertive in pressing its claims in the contested waters.

Asean was expected to release a joint statement on Saturday but it was delayed.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, the current chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said he did not want any “trouble” with China and discussing its fortification of reclaimed islands in the South China Sea was useless.

“For those who are peace loving, just like me, I do not want trouble,” Duterte told a press conference when asked about the bloc’s response to China’s military build-up. “We never talk about anything about the build-up ... It will be useless,” he said.

China is not member of the Asean, and did not attent the summit, but Chinese embassy representatives in Manila had sought to influence the content of the final statement by lobbying Philippine officials, two Asean diplomatic sources told Reuters.