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“Stop the genocide!” as protesters block the road, a long line of Seattle police in front of them, at Fifth Avenue and Olive Way outside the Westin in downtown Seattle as Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with USA political and business leaders Tuesday.

Speaking in an interview with ABS-CBN television, Aquino said that China had proposed the joint development of the South China Sea while at the same time claiming nearly all of the strategically sensitive waters.

“China has already figured out how ASEAN works on the South China Sea, it knows how to divide us”.

In a joint press conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Thai Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn stated that non-regional countries should refrain from actions that may escalate discord in the South China Sea.

Work on the joint statement continued on Thursday, despite the fact that it was supposed to have been finished on Wednesday.

“These are intrinsic rights that we all share”, Kerry said.

Tensions over the South China Sea have dominated talks this week in the Malaysian capital, where Asean foreign ministers have also met their counterparts from various countries, including China and the United States.

Tensions came to the fore at the ongoing East Asia and Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting in Malaysia, with countries including USA, India, Japan and Australia expressing deep concern over China’s territorial claim and creation of artificial islands in the South China Sea...

“The overall situation in the South China Sea is stable and there is no possibility of major conflict”, said a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry early yesterday morning.

The issue was a hot topic at the annual meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers this Tuesday.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, front left, walks with Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, front right, after they pose for a family photograph during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers Meeting plenary session in...

But China repeated its stance yesterday that Asean was not the right forum for such talks, pointing instead to a joint working group as well as meetings of senior officials from both sides that Foreign Minister Wang Yi said had achieved important progress.

“We’re not threatened at all because it’s in worldwide waters…” This was stressed by AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla Wednesday.

A joint naval drill between the US and the Philippines in the South China Sea, June 23, 2015. Beijing’s reaction was prompted by the comment of American State Undersecretary Daniel Russel that both claimants should respect and follow the decision of the arbitration body.