The ASEAN summit this year has ended without a statement. The South East Asian defense ministers meeting in Malaysia have failed to agree on a closing statement for their summit, amid a row over Chinese activity in the South China Sea. China has been aggressively staking its claims in the recent years in the resource-rich South China Sea, angering neighbors with overlapping claims. Other countries, including the US, have accused China of militarization regarding their methods in staking claim, but China has denied all accusation. According to sources, China has lobbied hard to not have this issue mentioned in the summit, which has resulted in a disagreement over the content of the summit’s closing statement. This dispute has been building up in the recent years and the tension between China and Southeast Asian countries is as high as ever.
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