Southeast Asian leaders wrapped up a summit on Saturday with no indication of an agreement on how to address Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea, a divisive issue in a region uncertain about its ties with the United States.
This even as four ASEAN members- Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines- are among parties in the six-way dispute, where China and Taiwan contend for their respective claims.
As expected, the statement, which Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was supposed to read on Saturday as Asean chair, also ignored an global tribunal's ruling striking down Beijing's claims to almost all of the South China Sea.
None of the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) raised China's island-building and reclamation activities in the disputed South China Sea at the just concluded summit in Manila, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said Tuesday.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that diplomacy is the best and only means to resolving any regional disputes and welcomes any such initiative from other countries. It is the first Chinese navy port call to the country since 2010, the Philippine navy said.
North Korea sent its Thailand-based ambassador to Manila recently "to suggest that North Korea not be put under pressure" during the Asean meetings hosted by the Philippines, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to discuss the matter with the media.
"Guided by our chairmanship theme - Partnering for Change, Engaging the World - we are drawn today to reaffirm our aspiration for an Asean that works to effect positive change in the lives of our peoples", Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said at the opening of the day-long summit.
Duterte disregarded the ruling himself, only stating that there are "concerns expressed by some leaders over recent developments in the area".
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The Hague ruling, in a case brought by the Philippines in 2013, angered China because it invalidated China's claim of sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea.
"It clearly reflected how the issue was discussed".
Although couched in diplomatic tone, Duterte's remarks Saturday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila reflect his combative character. But the arbitral [ruling], it's only between China and the Philippines.
One diplomat indicated that ongoing moves between China and ASEAN to draft a framework for negotiating a maritime code of conduct may have been a factor in agreeing the softened statement.
Patron said the Philippine government can also use the COC framework in South China Sea to support the country's claim to the disputed island, apart from the worldwide court's decision that favors the Philippines.
"This is part of confidence-building and goodwill and to show we are friends and that is why I welcome them here", Duterte said of the three-vessel flotilla that arrived in Davao City on Mindanao Island yesterday.
China had wanted ASEAN to remove a reference to "respect for legal and diplomatic processes", and it was taken out of the South China Sea section of the latest draft of the chairman´s statement.
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