September 8, 2016

"The ASEAN summit released a joint statement on Wednesday, article 121-128 of which mentioned the South China Sea issue. Like the joint communiqué released by the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in July, the latest statement did not mention the South China Sea arbitration. Rather, it stressed the importance and urgency of accelerating the negotiation process of the South China Sea Code of Conduct. The media predicted such a result and viewed it as a victory for China's diplomacy.

The ASEAN summit and Leaders' Meetings on East Asia Cooperation were held in Vientiane, Laos from Tuesday to Thursday. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attended the China-ASEAN Leaders' Meeting. The meeting agreed a number of joint statements, especially guidelines for their senior diplomats' hotline in addressing emergencies at sea. They agreed on the application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea in the South China Sea.

Until Wednesday, the South China Sea issue had not been hyped in Vientiane. The Philippines did not publicly magnify the arbitration, and the other ASEAN members had avoided talking about this issue."

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