CHINA-ASEAN: SOUTH CHINA SEA
Reuters reported on April 30, 2017, that Southeast
Asian leaders took a softer stance on disputes in the South China Sea during
the summit that ended on April 29, 2017, and avoided tacit references
to China’s building and arming of its manmade islands. A final statement
of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) dropped the
references to “land reclamation and militarization” included in the text issued
at last year’s meeting in Laos and an earlier, unpublished version seen by
Reuters on Saturday. The outcome follows what two Asean diplomats
said were efforts by the Chinese foreign ministry and embassy officials in
Manila to pressure the Philippines, which chaired the session, to keep
Beijing’s contentious activities in the strategic waterway off the ASEAN’s
official agenda.
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