TENSIONS were high during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministrial Meeting (AMM) in Vientiane, Laos, more than a week ago, with member states holding differing views on the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which on July 12 ruled in favor of the Philippines in the South China Sea dispute.

Philippines and Vietnam, two ASEAN members with their own territorial claims in the region, issued strong demands to enforce