Obama says South China Sea ruling ‘binding’ but Asia leaders tiptoe around tensions

From InterAksyon (Sep 8): Obama says South China Sea ruling ‘binding’ but Asia leaders tiptoe around tensions



(Left to right) Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chano-cha, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, US President Barack Obama, Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak pose for a photo at the ASEAN-US Summit in Vientiane. (photo by Jorge Silva, Reuters)

US President Barack Obama warned Thursday an international tribunal's ruling that China's sweeping claims to the South China Sea had no legal basis was "binding" after Beijing vowed to ignore the verdict.

"The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped clarify maritime rights in the region," Obama told a summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.

He was referring to the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the case brought by the Philippines against China over disputed territories in the South China Sea.

Among others, the tribunal:

a) said there is no legal basis for China's claimed historic rights and nine-dash-line, the U-shaped delineation it put on nearly 90 percent of the South China Sea;

b) recognized the traditional fishing rights of Filipinos (as well as other Asians, including Chinese) in the rich fishing grounds around Scarborough Shoal, but said China had disrupted exercise of such rights by its blockades and other acts against the Filipino fishermen;

c) said China caused harm to the marine environment with the persistent hauling by Chinese fishing boats of precious resources like corals, endangered species, fish--acts that the Chinese government did not stop.

d) said China's large scale reclamation and artificial islands spree were incompatible with the obligations of an UNCLOS signatory state during dispute resolution proceedings, and had caused irreparable harm to the environment.

But Asian leaders played down tensions over the South China Sea in a carefully worded summit statement on Thursday and even before it was issued Beijing voiced frustration with countries outside the region "interfering" in tussles over the strategic waterway.

The heads of 10 Southeast Asian nations, as well as US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang among six other leaders, "reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation in and overflight in the South China Sea."

But the draft of a statement to be issued in Vientiane, Laos tiptoed around the regional strains caused by competing claims to areas of the strategically important sea.

"Several leaders remained seriously concerned over recent developments in the South China Sea," said the draft.

The statement, seen by Reuters, made no reference to The Hague ruling.

Obama's comments are sure to draw ire from Beijing, which has taken an increasingly belligerent stance on claims in the strategically important waterway.

"I recognize this raises tensions," Obama said referring to the ruling "but I also look forward to discussing how we can constructively move forward together to lower tensions and promote diplomacy and stability."

Even before Obama's comments, a dispute between the Philippines and China had overshadowed East and Southeast Asian summits in Laos.

Manila produced photos it said showed fresh construction activity at the flashpoint Scarborough Shoal, an accusation that was denied by Beijing and played down by Washington.

The area is just 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the main island of the Philippines, where US forces are stationed.

Officials said that talks on Wednesday between ASEAN leaders and China's Li had gone smoothly.

But in a statement later from China's Foreign Ministry, Li was paraphrased as saying China was willing to work with Southeast Asian countries in "dispelling interference ... and properly handling the South China Sea issue."

He did not elaborate, but such wording is typically used by Chinese leaders to refer to not allowing countries from outside the region with no direct involvement in the dispute, like the United States, from getting involved.

China claims much of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Taiwan and four ASEAN members -- Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei -- also have claims, making it a hot spot of regional tension.

The other ASEAN nations are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. Leaders from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States also attended the summit.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/132253/obama-says-south-china-sea-ruling-binding-but-asia-leaders-tiptoe-around-tensions