China closes ranks with 3 Asean states

BEIJING—China has agreed with Brunei, Cambodia and Laos that the South China Sea territorial dispute must not affect relations between China and the Association of South East Asian National (Asean), China’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.

Four members of the 10-member Asean—the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei—have rival claims to parts of the South China Sea with China.

China, which is the biggest trade partner of many Asean nations, claims virtually the entire sea.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to reporters in the Lao capital Vientiane on Saturday and was quoted by his ministry as saying China had reached “an important consensus” with Brunei, Cambodia and Laos.

The South China Sea problem was not a China-Asean dispute and it “should not affect China-Asean relations,” the ministry said in a statement.

China’s maritime claims are the Asean’s most contentious issue.

The grouping, which also includes Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Burma (Myanmar), expressed in February its serious concern about growing international tension over the disputed waters.

China seeks to keep the South China Sea off multilateral forums, but other claimant countries, such as the Philippines, have sought to raise the issue at Asean summits.

The dispute has been divisive for Asean.

Cambodia, a close Chinese ally, was accused of driving a wedge in the bloc in 2012 when it refused to be drawn on China’s actions in the sea. As a result, the Asean for the first time failed to issue a customary communique at the end of the summit.