ASEAN cannot resolve sea disputes says Secretary-General Le Luong
ASEAN cannot resolve sea disputes says Secretary-General Le Luong
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Manila [Philippines], November 14(NT): Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Le Luong Minh has said that the ASEAN was not the right place to decide sovereignty claims over the South China Sea.

"We have to be able to detach, to look forward to these sovereignty claims. I mean we have only four Asean countries who are claimants -Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia," Manila Times quoted Secretary-General Minh

Minh, however, stated that ASEAN was the place to control the conduct of all parties in the territorial heated discussion.

As per the secretary, the South China Sea issue was one aspect of ASEAN with China and it was not looked-for for other ASEAN countries to encompass a position on this.

"We don't need; we don't even ask; we don't request other Asean countries to have a position with regards to the sovereignty claims of the claimants," Minh further said.

The ASEAN general secretary's comments came after it was information, yesterday, that the November 11 plan of the Chairman's Statement to be issued at the end of the 31st ASEAN Summit leaves out the section on the South China Sea heated discussion.

This left the development to guesswork that the leaders of ASEAN may leave the maritime heated discussion up to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to express the regional bloc's position on current developments in the contested South China Sea.

"Chairman's declaration has yet to be firmed up pending the actual conclusion of the Summit, so we will only see the final language of the Statement afterwards," asserted Philippines Foreign Affairs representative Robespierre Bolivar on Tuesday.

 

 

 

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