SE Asian nations wrangle over South China Sea statement

Southeast Asian nations were at loggerheads on August 6 over a joint statement on tensions in the South China Sea, with Beijing's allies opposing strong criticism of its land-reclamation activities, diplomats said.

China has sparked alarm by expanding tiny reefs and constructing military posts, steps viewed by some of its neighbours as violating a regional pledge against provocative actions in the flashpoint region.
 
Diplomatic sources told AFP that the Philippines and Vietnam in particular were pushing for stronger language on Chinese land reclamation, which could help shore up Beijing's disputed territorial claims.
 
But there was pushback from traditional China allies among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is meeting this week in Malaysia, they added.    

"China's friends are taking a hard stance," said one diplomat familiar with the drafting.
 
The diplomat did not specify which countries were taking a hard line, but Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar traditionally ally with China within ASEAN.
 
The tug-of-war raises the spectre of a 2012 ASEAN meeting hosted by Cambodia, when the bloc was unable for the first time in its four-decade history to issue a joint statement.
 
Cambodia was accused of precipitating the debacle by refusing to allow criticism of China over its maritime territorial assertions.    

"China has already figured out how ASEAN works on the South China Sea, it knows how to divide us. Look at what happened in Cambodia," one diplomat at the talks in Kuala Lumpur told AFP.
 
Envoys from 27 nations -- including the United States and China -- were in Kuala Lumpur for the final day of regional security talks dominated by long-running...