ASEAN Summit Focuses on Establishment of ASEAN Community

Obama told a meeting with Southeast Asian leaders on Saturday that territorial claimants to waters in the South China Sea should avoid militarizing the issue and halt any building of artificial islands.

“In practice, we have virtually eliminated tariff barriers between us”, said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, the summit host.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have territorial claims in the South China Sea. “We stress the importance of resolving disputes through peaceful means in accordance with global law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS]”.

“First, ASEAN and China must, I repeat, must promote regional peace and stability”, Jokowi said, calling on all relevant parties to expedite talks over the CoC during the meeting, where Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was also present. Obama is in Malaysia where he joins leaders from Southeast Asia to discuss trade and economic issues, and…

The summit marks Round Two in a week of top-level meetings in the region that kicked off in Manila with the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Manila. Najib’s focus, though, was on how much progress ASEAN has made since its founding in 1967… and in particular, the milestone it is about to reach in creating an integrated economic community at year end. “China has always put its relations with ASEAN countries as its priority among its relations with neighbours”. The framework also aims to ensure just and effective punishment for traffickers.

Yesterday, Modi addressed the ASEAN Summit and held discussions with his counterparts from China and Japan.

“This time, in a very high profile manner, the US sent military vessels within 12 nautical miles of China’s islands and reefs”, Liu said.

“According to one forecast, Asean has the potential to be the fourth largest economy in the world as early as 2030 – only 15 years from now”, he said during his speech before signing the declaration on the establishment of the Asean Community with nine other countries. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News.