Leaders of the ten-nation member Association of Southeast Asian Nations are in Malaysia for two days of meetings. The leaders were expected to discuss China’s activities in the South China Sea.
Malaysia’s prime minister spoke to the other leaders on Monday. He said they should work to peacefully control territorial disputes with China without increasing tensions in the area.
In his words, “Respect for international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, must be the basis of the rules of engagement and activities in the South China Sea.”
China has been developing the Spratly Islands. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claimed territory in the area.
ASEAN’s members are Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
