Obama puts South China Sea back on agenda at summit

VIENTIANE, Laos -- President Barack Obama put the long-simmering dispute in the South China Sea front and center on the agenda at a regional summit Thursday as it became clear most of the other leaders gathered in the Laotian capital were going to let China off with a mild rebuke over its territorial expansion in the resource-rich waters.

"We will continue to work to ensure that disputes are resolved peacefully, including in the South China Sea," Obama said at a meeting with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

He said a July 12 international arbitration ruling against China was binding and "helped to clarify maritime rights in the region."

ASEAN held a separate meeting later Thursday with eight world powers, including China and the U.S, in a gathering known as the East Asia Summit.

The participants were expected to let China off with a muted reprimand over its expansionist activities in the South China Sea, according to a draft of their joint statement.

The final version was not released.

The U.S. repeatedly has expressed concern over Beijing's actions in the resource-rich sea.

Obama brought that up again.

Referring to the arbitration panel's ruling that invalidated China's territorial claims, Obama said, "I realize this raises tensions, but I also look forward to discussing how we can constructively move forward together to lower tensions and promote diplomacy and regional stability."

China shot back with comments aimed at the United States.

"A couple of extra-regional countries still wanted to use the occasion of the East Asia Summit to talk about the South China Sea, particularly to press on the regional countries to abide by the arbitration, which is untimely and inappropriate," Chinese vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters.

He said it is "also against the trend in the region to resolve the disputes by cooperation and dialogue. In some sense, they are being self-isolated."

The East Asia Summit draft statement said ASEAN and its partners "reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security and freedom of navigation in and over-flight in the South China Sea."