ASEAN foreign ministers are beginning their annual negotiations in Laos amid intensive and growing frustration over the gridlock created by China’s stance on territorial ownership of islands in the South China Sea.
The diplomats will decide whether to change the rules and the heart of decision-making for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a result of China’s rejection of a court finding which shot down that country’s claims to most of the territory in the South China Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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“I don’t think that ASEAN will somehow miraculously produce a statement on the South China Sea,” said Sun Yun, with the U.S.-based think tank Stimson Centre. That would be “holding the bar too high” requiring the consensus of all members.
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