(From AFP)

Southeast Asian nations were deadlocked Sunday over how to confront sabre-rattling in the South China Sea as pressure from Beijing again drove a wedge between countries on the region’s most contentious security issue.

ASEAN meet in Laos
Staunch China ally Cambodia is preventing Southeast Asia from reaching a consensus on the South China Sea

The gathering in Vientiane is the first time regional players — including China and the United States — have met en masse since a UN-backed tribunal delivered a hammer blow to Beijing’s claim to vast swathes of the strategic sea.

Read: Will China’s realpolitik prevail in sea row?

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) includes four countries who have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the strategic sea and the regional body is fiercely divided over the issue.

Rival claimants have accused China of deftly forging alliances with smaller countries like Laos, this year’s host, and Cambodia through aid and loans to divide the the once consensus-driven bloc. Read More

Join the Conversation

1270 Comments

  1. Howdy would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with?
    I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a tough time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and
    Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and
    I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I
    had to ask!

  2. My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was entirely right.
    This post truly made my day. You can not imagine
    just how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!

  3. Hello, I do believe your web site might be having browser compatibility problems.
    When I take a look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in I.E., it’s got some overlapping issues.
    I merely wanted to give you a quick heads up!
    Other than that, great site!

  4. It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate
    to this excellent blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
    I look forward to fresh updates and will talk about this
    site with my Facebook group. Talk soon!

  5. Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.

    Look advanced to far added agreeable from you!

    However, how can we communicate?

  6. After looking over a handful of the articles on your website, I truly like your way of blogging.
    I saved it to my bookmark site list and will be checking back in the near future.

    Please check out my website as well and let me know your opinion.

  7. Howdy! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site
    with us so I came to check it out. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
    Wonderful blog and fantastic design.