US, Japan, Australia step in for weak SEAsia to chide China

The award given by the Arbitral Tribuna is beyond the scope of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and has gravely violated the worldwide law and the general practice of global arbitration, and it does not stand for the worldwide law, he said.

In response during their meeting Monday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated China’s position on the issue, the official said.

Foreign ministers from the ten ASEAN countries released a joint communique on July 24, the second day of a two-day-long 49th meeting in the Laotian capital of Vientiane.

At the same time, however, Yasay said the Philippines “had never urged or asked the global community, particularly ASEAN, to support us in the merits of our case”.

“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”, Wang said.

China has stepped up its rhetoric in defence of its claims since an global court ruled this month that China did not have historic rights to the waters, raising concern that China would assert its position more forcefully.

But with The Hague ruling in the past, Kerry said he and Wang agreed it is time to lower the temperature.

“What we are pushing for is absolute support for rule of law, for the legal process, and for diplomacy to work out the differences that people have”.

Mr. Sounry said the $600 million had been bilaterally discussed extensively before it was announced, and that the announcement’s timing was not tied in any way to the South China Sea issue.

China claims nearly all of the resource-rich South China Sea on historical grounds, overlapping with claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

“On the basis of worldwide law, the issue involving the South China Sea should be peacefully resolved”, Kishida said.

Rice also told Chinese officials, who included a top military officer, that USA military operations were created to contribute to peace and stability wherever they happened, including in the South China Sea, the official said.

Kerry, who arrived in Manila on Tuesday after attending a regional summit in Laos, met with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Cambodia, China’s closest ally, failed to mention the ruling against China in their statements, according to the diplomats.

To rein in China, Japan figured that it needed ASEAN on its side. “The arbitral award is a matter between China and the Philippines”.

Kerry said. “This could be a very important moment of shifting how this discussion is taking place and not being played out through public moves unilaterally and challenges, but in a constructive and thoughtful, engaged diplomatic manner”.

The United States, Japan, and Australia stepped away from a meeting of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, on Monday to issue a joint statement urging China to avoid building more military outposts in the South China Sea.