Sea row calls for all to paddle in unison

WOEFULLY, a self-defeating message was sent to China when the recent Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting proved yet again how divisive the South China Sea issue is among members.

That was evident from the eleventh-hour effort to produce a joint statement. Coupled with the Cambodia fiasco – when the group failed to issue a joint communique three years ago – it hardly projects the united resolve that Asean needs to negotiate a binding Code of Conduct with China.