Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is on Saturday set to weaken Southeast Asian resistance to Chinese expansionism in the contested South China Sea as he hosts a regional summit, diplomats said. Duterte is expected to release a chairman’s statement at the end of the one-day Association of Southeast
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is on Saturday set to weaken Southeast Asian resistance to Chinese expansionism in the contested South China Sea as he hosts a regional summit, diplomats said.
Duterte is expected to release a chairman’s statement at the end of the one-day Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) leaders meeting that ignores an international tribunal ruling rejecting China’s sweeping claims to the strategically vital waterway.
Ahead of the summit Duterte said the Philippines and other nations were helpless to stop Chinese artificial island building in areas they claimed, so there was no point protesting against it at diplomatic events such as Saturday’s summit.
„It cannot be an issue anymore. It’s already there. What would be the purpose also of discussing it if you cannot do anything, “ Duterte told reporters on Thursday.
China has been turning reefs and shoals in areas of the sea claimed by the Philippines and other nations into artificial islands, and installing military facilities there.
The United States has criticised the construction work, warning against militarisation in the waterway where $5 trillion in annual trade passes.
ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim parts of the sea, but China insists it has sovereign rights over nearly all of it, even waters approaching its neighbours‘ coasts.
The Philippines, under previous president Benigno Aquino, had lobbied hard at ASEAN summits for the bloc to voice its strong opposition to the Chinese expansionism, and official statements at those events often reflected that.
