Philippines denies China hand in ASEAN statement

Paterno R. Esmaquel II

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Philippines denies China hand in ASEAN statement
The Philippines also says no ASEAN leader 'strongly pushed' to condemn China's island building in the disputed South China Sea

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines on Tuesday, May 2, denied that China interfered in crafting a regional statement that evaded two controversies involving the disputed South China Sea.

The Chairman’s Statement of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was released Sunday, April 30, did not tackle the Philippines’ legal victory against Beijing over the South China Sea, and China’s island building activities there. 

Diplomats, who refused to be named for lack of authority to speak, had told reporters that China lobbied to water down the ASEAN Chairman’s Statement. 

Zaldy Patron, executive director of the Office of ASEAN Affairs of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), was asked on Tuesday if he “can say directly that China did not exert its influence” in crafting the Chairman’s Statement.

“Yeah. None that we know of,” Patron told reporters in a press briefing.

Patron explained that as far as he knows, ASEAN leaders “exercised their independence.”  

“They should be free from any interference from any countries. So we take it to mean that they made their decisions independently. So we don’t see any factor coming from any dialogue partner,” the DFA official added

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is boosting the Philippines’ ties with China, is this year’s ASEAN chairman. The Philippines’ chairmanship comes less than a year after Manila won a case against Beijing over the South China Sea, parts of which the Philippines claims as the West Philippine Sea.

In his press briefing on Tuesday, Patron also said “there was no one” among the ASEAN leaders who “strongly pushed or mentioned anything about land reclamation and militarization” in the South China Sea.

He added that “there is no mention” of the Philippines’ arbitral victory over China “because even last year in Vientiane, there was no consensus to have it reflected in any of the ASEAN statements.”

The ASEAN Chairman’s Statement in September 2016, when Vientiane hosted the regional summit, indeed did not mention the arbitral ruling. 

Unlike the ASEAN Chairman’s Statement in Manila, however, the one in Laos “took note of the concerns expressed by some leaders on the land reclamations and escalation of activities” in the South China Sea. – Rappler.com

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Paterno R. Esmaquel II

Paterno R. Esmaquel II, news editor of Rappler, specializes in covering religion and foreign affairs. He finished MA Journalism in Ateneo and MSc Asian Studies (Religions in Plural Societies) at RSIS, Singapore. For story ideas or feedback, email pat.esmaquel@rappler.com