MANILA: Southeast Asian countries took a softer stance on South China Sea disputes during a weekend summit, according to a statement issued on Sunday, which went easy on China by avoiding tacit references to its building and arming of its manmade islands.

A chairman’s statement of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) was released about 12 hours after the summit ended, and dropped references to “land reclamation and militarization” included in the text issued at last year’s meeting, and in an earlier, unpublished version.

The outcome follows what two Asean diplomats on Saturday said were efforts by Chinese foreign ministry and embassy officials to pressure Asean chair the Philippines to keep Beijing’s contentious activities in the strategic waterway off Asean’s official agenda.

It also indicates four Asean members who the diplomats said had wanted a firmer position had agreed to the statement’s more conciliatory tone.

China is not a member of the 10-member bloc and did not attend the summit but is extremely sensitive about the content of its statements. It has often been accused of trying to influence the drafts to muzzle what it sees as dissent and challenges to its sweeping sovereignty claim.

China’s embassy in Manila could not be reached and its foreign ministry did not respond to request for comment on Saturday.

The statement also noted “the improving cooperation between Asean and China”, and did not include references to “tensions” or “escalation of activities” seen in earlier drafts and in last year’s text. It noted, without elaborating, some leaders’ concerns about “recent developments” in the strategic, resource-rich waterway A Philippine diplomat said it was an open secret that China tries to lean on Asean members to protect its interests, but that was not the reason for the unusual delay in issuing the statement.

“There are one or two member countries which lobbied for some changes in some text in the statement, but not related to the South China Sea,” the source said.

Beijing has reacted angrily to individual members expressing their concern about its rapid reclamation of reefs in the Spratlys and its installation of missile systems on them.

Another Asean diplomat said the statement was a genuine representation of the atmosphere of the Manila meetings.

“We respected the Philippines’ views and cooperated,” the diplomat said. “It clearly reflected how the issue was discussed.”

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2017