By Nicolas REVISE, Jerome TAYLOR
Southeast Asian nations Monday ducked direct criticism of China over its claims to the South China Sea, in a diluted statement produced after days of disagreement that gives the superpower a diplomatic victory.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) avoided mention of a ruling by a UN-backed tribunal which had rejected China's claims and infuriated Beijing.
Instead, ASEAN repeated that it was "seriously concerned" by "land reclamations and escalation of activities" and called for "self-restraint" in the strategic waterway.
The contested sea, through which some $5 trillion in shipping passes annually, has been a source of increasing tension between China and its Southeast Asian neighbours as well as the United States.
Regional diplomats are gathered in the Laos capital Vientiane for an ASEAN summit that has been dogged by the flashpoint issue of territorial claims.
It is the first time key players -- including US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi -- have met en masse since a UN-backed tribunal a fortnight ago rejected Beijing's claims to vast stretches of the sea.
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