Asian leaders fail to reach consensus on South China Sea

World leaders at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia failed to reach any resolution on the South China Sea territorial disputes involving China, The New York Times reported. Cambodia, a close ally of China, did not act as a mediator as most host countries have in the past, leaving Indonesia, which has no vested interests in the South China Sea, to push unsuccessfully for an agreement. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was also present at the talks, stressed the importance of resolving the disputes “without coercion, without intimidation, without threats and without use of force.” Her admonitions appear to have been aimed at China, which has stated that it prefers to deal with the countries involved in the dispute individually and not through a regional forum. A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reiterated that China will discuss future steps only “when conditions mature.”