The special session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that took place in Tokyo on Saturday was designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Japan's diplomatic relations with the Southeast Asian countries.
But media attention has been dominated on themes involving one country that is not part of Southeast Asia — China, which has raised diplomatic tension with Japan by setting a new air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.
Japan tried to use the ASEAN event to garner support from member countries to put pressure on China. In the end, Tokyo succeeded in having ASEAN countries indirectly criticize China in one of the two main statements over Beijing's creation of the ADIZ.