ASEAN summit ends, south China sea tension remains / 東協峰會落幕 南海議題不提海牙仲裁

The ASEAN summit closed on Sep. 8th in Vientiane, Laos. While the South China Sea dispute is not on the official agenda, the Philippines published images on Sep. 7th showing that China may be attempting to build an artificial island on Scarborough Shoal. The incident is an indication that tensions over the South China Sea are still running high behind the scene. The ASEAN summit closed on Sep. 8th. President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte sparked intense controversies for insulting the US President Obama. He later apologized, and the two met briefly before the banquet. The encounter was confirmed by Philippine officials beforehand. ==ERNESTO ABELLA, Philippine Presidential Spokesperson== They will have an encounter. It will be civil and warm. Duterte also shook hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang cordially before the summit. Duterte said he would not raise any questions regarding the South China Sea and to the Chinese leaders during the summit. However, the Philippines released images showing that China may be trying to build an artificial island on Scarborough Shoal again. China denied the allegation and accused the Philippines of spreading rumors. ==HUA CHUNYING, China Foreign Ministry Spokesperson== I can tell you that areas near Scarborough Shoal have not changed. China has not taken any action. Some people are spreading rumors and trying to take advantage of the false information. We need to be wary of that. The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague issued a ruling in favor of the Philippines and dismissed China's claim to the South China Sea. However, Beijing has apparently held the ruling in disregard. The South China Sea arbitration will not be mentioned in the closing remarks of the ASEAN summit, but Obama stressed that the US will continue to maintain its presence in the South and East China Sea and will uphold its military commitment to its allies. Experts said if China successfully establishes a military base on Scarborough Shoal, it will be in effective control of the South China Sea, and military conflict will be more likely to occur. TRANSLATED BY：CHRISTINA LIU 東協鋒會8號閉幕，菲國總統杜特蒂日前對美國總統歐巴馬爆粗口，引發極大爭議，但隨即致歉，兩人7號在晚宴入席前，終於進行了兩分鐘的會面，事前菲國官方也已經證實這項消息。 ==菲律賓總統府發言人 阿貝拉== 他們會舉行見面 一定會 而且氣氛會是非常文明跟溫和 而杜特蒂7號在領袖會議正式登場前，也禮貌性的跟中國國務院總理李克強握手。杜特蒂事前已經表示，不會在峰會期間跟中國提出南海仲裁案跟南海主權的相關問題，但另一方面，菲國國防部7號卻公布了10張空拍照，顯示中國故技重施，已經在黃岩島上發現有疑似挖砂能力的大型船隻，正在填海造島，但中國外交部隨即否認，並指控菲律賓散布謠言。 ==中國外交部發言人 華春瑩== 我能告訴你的是 黃岩島的海域並沒有發生變化 中方也沒有採取新的行動 所以在這種情況下 有人散佈上述的信息進行炒作 我想這意圖是值得我們大家警惕的 7月中旬出爐的南海仲裁案，海牙法庭當時裁定，中國在南海所修築的一切人工島全都不合法，對南海的主權聲索也幾乎無效，但北京顯然說到做到，把裁決當成廢紙一張。儘管東協峰會8號的閉幕聲明，不會提到南海仲裁案，但歐巴馬依舊在這次峰會期間強調，美國會持續維持在南海跟東海的存在感，對盟友的軍事承諾也不會是空談。專家指出，中國如果在黃岩島設立軍事前哨站，將成為實質控制南海的關鍵，也將大幅提高南海軍事衝突的可能性。 記者 靳元慶 報導