With regional prosperity supposedly under threat, President Aquino has called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to thwart China or any nation from using force or threat to assert its claim in the disputed territories in the South China Sea. The President, in a bold statement issued at the regional summit here, maintained that “collective prosperity requires stability” in the region as he reaffirmed the country's commitment to settle the maritime conflict through peaceful and legal means. “We believe that, as a rules-based Community, ASEAN should not allow any country, no matter how powerful, to claim an entire sea as its own and to use force or the threat thereof in asserting such a claim,” Aquino said. “We have not resolved, even amongst ASEAN members, the competing claims especially among the Spratlys. These improvements further complicate and increase the difficulty of coming to compromises that will be necessary to prevent further tension from rising,” he added.

Kabiling, G. K. (2015, November 22). Thwart use of force in South China Sea. Manila Bulletin, p. 4.