ASEAN summit fails to deliver on South China Sea flashpoint

ASEAN summit fails to deliver on South China Sea flashpoint
Sandy Milne 2 July 2020 https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/maritime-antisub/6383-asean-summit-fai...

After the 10-bloc ASEAN summit convened remotely on 26 June, many were hopeful that Vietnam – which chaired the meeting – would use it as a platform to redress PLC expansion in the South China Sea. Unfortunately for those expecting a sea change in the SCS, coronavirus remained top of mind.

In early April, the US Department of State first drew the link between the pandemic and build-up in the South China Sea. In an official statement released to press, a spokesman said that China was using the outbreak as a guise to increase activity in the region.

"We call on the PRC [People's Republic of China] to remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemic and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea," the US Department of State said in a statement in early April.

Following this, US ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse jnr told Defence Connect that China was pursuing an expansionist policy in the region with "shocking new vigour".

Pushing back on what he termed “Beijing’s heavy-handed attempts to unlawfully impose its territorial claims on the rest of the (Indo-Pacific) region," he said that freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) conducted by the USS Barry and USS Bunker Hill in April went some way to counterbalancing this.