Preview
During 2016, new governments took office in the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. The new Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, took a conciliatory stance toward bilateral talks with China as a means of dealing with territorial disputes in the South China Sea, while showing himself increasingly ready to view the relationship with China as a balance to the alliance with the United States. The award made by an arbitral tribunal in July 2016 almost completely recognized the Philippines’ position on Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, drawing vociferous Chinese objections, and out of concern for relations with China, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including the Philippines and Vietnam, showed only a restrained reaction.
PDF