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ASEAN ministers' joint statement expected to exclude PH arbitration win, Chinese incursions in South China Sea

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Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Southeast Asian foreign ministers are expected to leave out the Philippines&#x27; victory in the arbitration case against China and the latter&#x27;s island-building activities in the disputed South China Sea in their joint statement to be issued by the end of their upcoming Manila meet, a draft document reviewed by ABS-CBN News showed.Instead, they are expected to laud the conclusion of negotiations on a framework of a <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/18/17/china-asean-agree-on-framework-for-schina-sea-code-of-conduct">code of conduct</a> in the South China Sea as they meet this week in Manila, according to an initial draft of the joint communique.With the framework also expected to be endorsed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China&#x27;s foreign ministers this weekend, senior officials of the regional bloc and China will be tasked to start &quot;earnest discussions on a substantive and effective COC on the basis of the framework as soon as possible.&quot;&quot;We welcomed the conclusion of negotiations on a framework of the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (COC) on 18 May 2017 in Guiyang, China,&quot; part of the draft document read.It also said that the ministers may reaffirm the &quot;importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in and above the South China Sea&quot; along with the &quot;full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).&quot;&quot;Pending the conclusion of a substantive COC, we reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in and above the South China Sea,&quot; it said.&quot;In this regard, we underscored the importance of the full and effective implementation of the DOC in its entirety.&quot; The ministers may also welcome the operationalization of the Guidelines for Hotline Communications among Senior Officials of the Ministries of ASEAN Member States and China in Response to Maritime Emergencies in the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). It is also expected to urge the &quot;early operationalization of the other early harvest measure which is the Joint Statement on the Application of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) in the South China Sea.&quot;Construction and island building activities may not be specifically mentioned, but the ministers are expected to again reaffirm &quot;the importance of enhancing mutual trust and confidence, exercising self-restraint in the conduct of activities, pursuing mutually agreed practical maritime areas of cooperation, and avoiding unilateral actions in disputed features that may further complicate the situation in keeping with the principle of peaceful resolution of disputes without resorting to the threat or use of force.&quot;At the end of the ASEAN Summit in April, the leaders&#x27; joint statement was also <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/30/17/asean-silent-on-china-defeat-militarization-but-mentions-unclos">silent</a> on China&#x27;s defeat in the legal case initiated by the Philippines, where an international arbitration tribunal invalidated Beijing&#x27;s sweeping claims over nearly all of the South China Sea. Four ASEAN members- the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei- have claims that overlap with China&#x27;s in the disputed waters.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers are expected to leave out the Philippines' victory in the arbitration case against China and the latter's island-building activities in the disputed South China Sea in their joint statement to be issued by the end of their upcoming Manila meet, a draft document reviewed by ABS-CBN News showed.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers are expected to leave out the Philippines' victory in the arbitration case against China and the latter's island-building activities in the disputed South China Sea in their joint statement to be issued by the end of their upcoming Manila meet, a draft document reviewed by ABS-CBN News showed.

ASEAN ministers' joint statement expected to exclude PH arbitration win, Chinese incursions in South China Sea

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ASEAN ministers' joint statement expected to exclude PH arbitration win, Chinese incursions in South China Sea

Willard Cheng,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 02, 2017 07:12 PM PHT

Read More:

ASEAN

China

Association of Southeast Asian Nation

foreign ministers

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