Irwin Loy
PHNOM PENH – Southeast Asian foreign ministers have failed to hammer out a joint statement summarizing key regional meetings this week. Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations stumbled over how to deal with a simmering dispute in the South China Sea. The unprecedented impasse has left some officials pointing a finger at chair Cambodia, and it raises questions on the cohesiveness of the 10-member bloc.
ASEAN’s failure to compile a basic statement has brought this week’s usually secretive back-room discussions to the forefront. As the meetings concluded on Friday, the Philippines blamed the impasse on Cambodia, which holds this year’s chair of the regional bloc.
 |
| Disputed Region (Click to Enlarge) |
The Philippines, one of four ASEAN claimants to the South China Sea, wanted the joint communique to include mention of discussions regarding the Scarborough Shoal, a set of disputed islands in the body of water.
ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam all claim overlapping parts of the South China Sea, along with Taiwan and China. But it is China’s influence on the issue that has proven the most divisive to ASEAN members.
Read the full story at Voice of America