Days of deadlock ended in lukewarm statement at the Asean weekend meeting in Vientiane, Laos, when the Philippines reportedly dropped a request for the member-countries’ joint statement to mention a landmark legal ruling on the South China Sea.
The legal victory for the Philippines before the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea could have been used as a rallying call during the Asean Summit in Laos.
Instead, the release of what many described as a watered-down joint statement from the 10-nation bloc became a “lost opportunity,” said Dindo Manhit, president of Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi).
“The group reaffirmed [its] respect for and commitment to freedom of navigation in and overflight above the West Philippine Sea as provided by international law, but stops quite short of acknowledging the ruling itself or affirming acceptance of the tribunal’s findings,” he said.
The statement emerged following a deadlock among the 10 nations on how to confront China’s aggressive moves in the hotly contested waters, with smaller countries like Laos and Cambodia reportedly foiling moves by claimant-states to issue a more strongly worded rebuke of Chinese expansion.
The Vientiane meet is the first since the Philippines handily won its arbitration case versus China, after the tribunal struck down the country’s claims of historic rights over much of the West Philippine Sea.
The invocation of broad principles suffer because of the lack of specifics, the ADRi president stressed, “the South China Sea section of the text does not even include the simple phrase ‘full respect for legal and diplomatic processes’, which was present in previous Asean statements.”
The statement cautioned countries to exercise self-restraint in their activities in the area, including provocative actions on presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals and other features. This is the only part that could be considered “vaguely critical” of China, which is the only country to have such moves in recent years.
Manhit said the statement just plays par for the regional bloc, which has been known for its lukewarm statements that some attribute to its consensus-building mechanism. “As with everything in Asean, countries win some and lose some. It’s hard to say what the Philippines gained, but it is clear what the region lost: an opportunity to speak decisively against the clearly coercive diplomacy of its larger neighbor.”