In recent years, China's militarization efforts in the South China Sea took center stage in discussions at regular meetings between leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its partners such as the United States, Japan and China. But ASEAN members took a softer approach on the issue at the meetings held last week in Manila and were reluctant to dwell on it.
This does not mean that China has changed its behavior. Beijing has pushed land reclamation and the construction of ports, runways and radar facilities on islands it built in disputed territories in the area. The 10 members of ASEAN should unite and pursue serious negotiations with China with the goal of establishing an effective code of conduct for the South China Sea to eliminate tensions in the area. China, for its part, should respect the rule of law and restrain its activities there.
Every year since 2014, when a Chinese government ship collided with a Vietnamese government vessel in the South China Sea, the ASEAN summit chairman's statement expressed "serious concerns" over China's conduct in the South China Sea including its land reclamations and "escalation of activities" in the area.