AT the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summit, held consecutively on September 6-8 in Vientiane, Laos, the South China Sea dispute came on top of the agenda. The carefully worded summit statement addressed the strain caused by overlapping claims in the strategically located sea.

"Several leaders remained seriously concerned over recent developments in the South China Sea," the statement notes. However, it makes no reference to a July ruling by the United Nat