Southeast Asia Is Divided On How To Respond To China's Claim To The South China Sea

Wall Street Journal: Southeast Asia Divided on Response to Chinese Reclamation in South China Sea

Asean head says China’s ‘nine-dash’ line isn’t compatible with international law as Malaysia downplays the issue

KUALA LUMPUR—The Philippines pushed Southeast Asian neighbors Sunday to take a stand against China’s expanding footprint in the South China Sea, but Malaysia downplayed the urgency at a summit of the region’s trade and security bloc.

China is “poised to consolidate de facto control of the South China Sea,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario told his regional counterparts during a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The implications are “urgent and far-reaching, going beyond the region to encompass the global community.”

He called on the group to stand up to China on what is becoming the dominant issue of a two-day meeting of leaders. Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly the entire waters of the disputed South China Sea, and in recent months has been enlarging two islands it controls and constructing new islets in the potentially energy-rich waters, which are traversed by around half the world’s commercial shipping.

WNU Editor: These nations do not have a history of cooperating together .... but China's claims to the South China Sea is changing that.

More News On Divisions Among Southeast Asian Nations On How To Respond To China's South China Sea Claims

Manila Appeals to Asean to Stop China Reclamation in South China Sea -- NYT/Reuters
Beijing moves toward 'de facto control of South China Sea': Philippines -- AFP
Philippines urges ASEAN to stop China's land reclamation in South China Sea -- FOX News/AP
ASEAN Chief Says Body 'Can't Accept' China's Territorial Claims In South China Sea -- IBTimes
Indonesia 'in a bind' over Beijing's assertiveness in South China Sea -- Deustche Welle
South China Sea: China's Unprecedented Spratlys Building Program -- The Diplomat
China's South China Sea Disaster -- Joshua Kurlantzick, National Interest