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MANILA \u2013 The\u00a0Philippines\u00a0followed up a summit of\u00a0Southeast Asian\u00a0leaders by releasing a final communique Sunday that removed mention of international concerns over China’s \u201cmilitarization\u201d of newly built islands in the disputed South China Sea in a major concession to Beijing.<\/p>\n
The 25-page statement issued by\u00a0Philippine\u00a0President Rodrigo Duterte following the daylong meeting of leaders of the Association of\u00a0Southeast Asian\u00a0Nations he hosted in Manila also made no direct mention of his country’s landmark arbitration victory against China last year. A vague reference to the ruling was removed from a part of the communique that discussed the long-seething territorial conflicts and moved elsewhere in the document.<\/p>\n
The changes were apparent based on a previous draft of the communique seen by The Associated Press. A foreign diplomat based in Manila told the AP that the\u00a0Philippines\u00a0circulated a stronger draft statement to other ASEAN member states, which was backed by countries like Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Other governments made suggestions but Duterte, as ASEAN chairman this year, could decide how to shape the language of the regional bloc’s \u201cchairman’s statement,\u201d said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss the issue publicly.<\/p>\n
China and ASEAN member states Brunei, Malaysia, the\u00a0Philippines\u00a0and Vietnam, along with Taiwan, have overlapping claims to territory in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which billions of dollars in world trade passes each year. The waters are also important fishing grounds and are believed to have undersea deposits of oil and gas.<\/p>\n
ASEAN, which makes decisions by consensus, has previously struggled to come up with statements on the issue, with Duterte’s predecessor often pushing for a tougher tone against China and getting pushback from members, like Beijing’s allies Cambodia and Laos, unwilling to upset their largest trading partner and most important economic benefactor.<\/p>\n
China has dismissed and ignored last July’s arbitration ruling, which invalidated most of its historic claims to almost all of the South China Sea. China has long argued that the territorial disputes have nothing to do with its relationship with ASEAN and should be settled through bilateral talks.<\/p>\n
Since taking office last June, Duterte has taken a much softer stance on China and the disputes than his predecessor. That was reflected in Sunday’s watered-down communique, which three\u00a0Philippine\u00a0officials told The AP came at the request of Chinese diplomats in Manila. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the issue with the press.<\/p>\n
Chinese Embassy officials in Manila were not immediately available for comment.<\/p>\n
Former\u00a0Philippine\u00a0officials who dealt with the disputes say Duterte’s concessions to China could weaken the ability of thePhilippines\u00a0and other ASEAN member states to seek Chinese compliance to the arbitration ruling and curb Beijing’s increasingly assertive behaviour in the disputed waters.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur government, in its desire to fully and quickly accommodate our aggressive northern neighbour may have left itself negotiating a perilous road with little or no room to rely on brake power and a chance to shift gears if necessary,\u201d former\u00a0Philippine\u00a0Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said.<\/p>\n
Del Rosario, then under President Benigno Aquino III, spearheaded the filing of the arbitration complaint against China in 2013.<\/p>\n
Duterte has said he prefers to warm once-frosty ties with and secure infrastructure funding from Beijing. Still he has said he will raise the ruling with China at some point during his six-year term.<\/p>\n
A draft of the ASEAN communique seen by the AP ahead of the summit mentioned concerns about China’s \u201cland reclamation\u201d or construction of new islands in the South China Sea and its \u201cmilitarization\u201d of the disputed region but did not mention China by name. That has been a standard policy in previous ASEAN statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cNon-mention of The Hague ruling would be a diplomatic triumph for China,\u201d said former\u00a0Philippine\u00a0national security adviser Roilo Golez, referring to the European tribunal that issued the landmark decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might embolden them to advance some more in their South China Sea master plan,\u201d said Golez, citing fears that China may also turn the disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern\u00a0Philippines\u00a0into another island outpost.<\/p>\n
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