BEIJING — China on Tuesday welcomed a softer stand taken by Southeast Asian countries on the disputed South China Sea at a weekend summit, saying it showed efforts to ease tension were working. Current top breaking Philippine headlines regarding the nation, world, metro manila, regions and exclusive special investigative reports.
BEIJING — China on Tuesday welcomed a softer stand taken by Southeast Asian countries on the disputed South China Sea at a weekend summit, saying it showed efforts to ease tension were working. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dropped references to «land reclamation and militarization» from its chairman’s statement this year at the end of its summit in the Philippine capital, Manila. The reference had been included last year and was even in an earlier, unpublished version of the statement, seen by Reuters on Saturday. Two ASEAN diplomats said that this year, China had pressed ASEAN chair the Philippines to keep China’s contentious activities in the strategic waterway off ASEAN’s official agenda. China is not a member of the 10-member bloc and did not attend the summit but it is extremely sensitive about the content of its statements. It has often been accused of trying to influence the drafting of statements to muzzle what it sees as challenges to its sweeping sovereignty claim.
