Philippines’ Duterte gives China free pass over sea row

Southeast Asia leaders gathered here on Saturday to exchange views on how to further strengthen and make the 50-year-old Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) relevant amid challenges confronting the world.

However, four ASEAN member states disagreed with omitting “land reclamation and militarization” – terms included in the statement issued last year in Laos, but not featured in an earlier draft of this year’s statement seen on Wednesday.

Opposition legislator Gary Alejano, a former military officer, said that in the Asean summit, “they (China) won by convincing Duterte not to include any statement about the (international) ruling”. Some experts believe that Beijing is now capable of deploying combat aircraft on several of its manmade features.

Duterte had previous year branded then United States president Barack Obama a “son of a whore” for criticizing the drug war, and more recently called European lawmakers “crazies” for issuing a statement condemning the killings.

“We also share your country’s concerns on the devastating effects of drugs upon society and I understand your personal resolve in combating it”, Bolkiah said as Duterte hosted him at the presidential palace on Thursday.

“There will be another meeting this month and everyone is optimistic that we are going to have this framework by middle of this year”. That was reflected in Sunday’s watered-down communique, which three Philippine officials told The AP came at the request of Chinese diplomats in Manila.

“We want to reflect as much as possible the discussion, as accurately as possible, of the leaders”.

An aversion to directly criticizing China has become mainstream Asean policy as some of the bloc’s member states seek to improve ties with the country.

As part of his engagement with China, Duterte has decided not to press it to abide by the arbitration award anytime soon.

This year’s statement from ASEAN did not mention the historic July 12, 2016, ruling of the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague nor the issue of island building.

The final chairman’s statement issued made no mention to the arbitration case.

The chairman’s statement meant to reflect the views of all Asean leaders would neither mention the global tribunal ruling nor China directly, according to a draft obtained by AFP.

Southeast Asian leaders concluded a summit here on Saturday by dropping references to the China’s massive island-building in the South China Sea and to a landmark court ruling that rendered such expansion illegal in response to Beijing’s lobbying. “But under the Philippine chairmanship, we have seen a lot of movements in the discussion and China has already made announcement that it’s also supportive of having a framework of the COC”, Patron said.

It noted, without elaborating, some leaders’ concerns about “recent developments” in the strategic, resource-rich waterway.

The 25-page chairman’s statement also said the leaders reaffirmed the importance of enhancing mutual trust and confidence, exercising self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoiding actions that may complicate the situation.

The leaders also reiterated their “full support for the denuclearizaton of the Korean Peninsula” and urged “concerned parties to explore all avenues for immediate dialogue”, it says.