China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) shakes hands with Thailand’s Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai during the ASEAN-China meeting in Vientiane on July 25, 2016. Photo by AFP
Vientiane (AFP) – Southeast Asian nations avoided rebuking Beijing or mentioning a recent UN-backed tribunal ruling against its claims in the South China Sea in joint statement released Monday that will be seen as victory for the regional giant.
The regional 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) instead repeated that it was “seriously concerned” by “land reclamations and escalation of activities” and called for “self-restraint” in the strategic waterways.