ASEAN mulling over joint statement on South China Sea

By Liza Yosephine, The Jakarta Post ASEAN is likely to issue a joint statement on the South China Sea in response to an upcoming verdict on the Philippines’ arbitration case against China on the disputed territories, an official said on Thursday. “As the leading organization in the region, with interests in the South China Sea, it would be strange if ASEAN didn’t have a viewpoint,” the Foreign Ministry’s ASEAN dialogue partner and inter-regional cooperation director, Derry Aman, told journalists on Thursday. Photo courtesy of Charles Dharapak/AP However, the regional organization’s mechanism requires that all ten member countries reach consensus before declaring a unified stance on the issue, he added. Several ASEAN countries are involved in territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Indonesia is not a claimant to the surrounding waters of the resource-rich Natuna Islands. The regional organization will conduct a special ministerial meeting with China between June 13 [...]