ASEAN members agree on principles of how to handle disputes over South China Sea claims

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JULY 20, 2012 9:01 AM

 

 

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has belatedly agreed on a common statement on how to handle conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Friday's statement came more than a week after the nations' foreign ministers failed to issue a joint statement concluding their annual meeting in Phnom Penh for the first time. Host Cambodia had rejected a proposal by the Philippines and Vietnam to mention their separate territorial disputes with China in the statement.

China and several Southeast Asian countries have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea. Chinese and Philippine ships have been engaged in a standoff in one disputed area since April.

The new statement calls in general terms for implementation of ASEAN-promoted principles for peaceful resolution of maritime disputes.