(Reuters) — Laos is set to host the annual ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and East Asia summits that will bring together state leaders from over 20 nations and international organisations next week in the capital, Vientiane, with maritime security and cross-border trade expected to top the agenda at the annual meetings.
Ahead of the meetings, newly-elected Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte said he had no intention of bringing up the International Court ruling on his country’s territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea
“I’ll never bring the matter because it might lead to the suspension of the talks with China and that is not good,” said Duterte.
“But I will one day sit in front of the representative of you (China) and then I’ll lay the, my position. And I will say that (to) these people, I cannot get out from the four corners of this document,” he added.
Political analyst in Manila, Ramon Casiple, says the South China Sea dispute would dominate the regional gathering although the Philippines would want to keep the matter bilateral with China.
“It could be safe to assume that Laos will come out with a very blunt statement which claimants, I think, will reject, so there will be a lot of frictions there. Unless they had some modus vivendi even before they talk to each other. I would assume that whether Laos or Cambodia likes it or not, the South China Sea, and possibly even the ruling itself may become a topic even if the Philippines don’t bring it up,” Casiple told Reuters.
China claims most of the South China Sea, but ASEAN members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have rival claims. Beijing says the ruling has no bearing on its rights in the sea, and described the court ruling as a farce.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is attending the meeting for the last time before he steps down, is expected to meet his Philippine counterpart Duterte on September 6 in Vientiane, and plans to touch on human rights as well as security concerns, the White House said on August 29.
Obama is also expected to reassure leaders in the Southeast Asian region that he still has the clout to deliver U.S. approval for the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership, even though the two candidates vying to succeed him and a congressional leader have said the 12-nation trade deal should not move forward.
The trade pact is the economic pillar of Obama’s broader plan to shift U.S. foreign policy toward Asia and counter the rising economic and military might of China. Domestic politics have put the deal’s future in doubt.
From rich Singapore to impoverish Myanmar, the region of more than 630 million people with a combined economic output of $2.6 trillion remains an important part of Asia, analysts say, given its natural resources and geographical location.