what others sayIt did come up at one point, when US President Barack Obama said: "The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped to clarify maritime rights in the region." He was referring to the verdict by an arbitral body in The Hague that rejected China's expansive claim over the South China Sea - a ruling that directly benefited not only the Philippines but also other Asean claimant countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. How bizarre that it was a non-member country that tried to put the discussion on the table, while Asean itself continued to feign obliviousness to the issue, in accordance with the bloc's avowed tradition of consensus.Granted, America is hardly a disinterested party. Its economic might rests partly on the unrestricted movement of trade - as much as US$5 trillion annually - on the disputed waters. More importantly for the Philippines, which brought the suit, it became "the only country with recognised rights instead of mere claims in the South China Sea," as Teodoro Locsin Jr put it.

Source: The Nation Bangkok September 10, 2016 18:00 UTC