CHINA US Focus - Perspectives shaping the world's most important bilateral relationship

Southeast Asian states sought to save face on Friday with a call for restraint and dialogue over the South China Sea, but made no progress in healing a deep divide about how to respond to China's growing assertiveness in the disputed waters.

 

After heated discussions at a summit last week that saw its customary communique aborted for the first time in its 45-year history, the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN)issued a six-point statement that omitted the contentious issues that had its 10 members locked in a bitter dispute for days.