Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov | FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines — Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has called out Russia for blocking a draft statement prepared by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), noting that the country should not interfere in the affairs of this region.
Rodriguez, in a statement on Monday, was referring to a news report that Russia and China blocked an Asean statement which would have issued a stronger stance regarding the code of conduct on the South China Sea. A United States (US) official said a main contention was how Asean would have referenced the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
“Russia should not have blocked the Asean statement. Moscow has no business meddling in disputes in this part of our region,” Rodriguez, chairperson of the House of Representatives’ committee on constitutional amendments, said.
READ: West PH Sea: US accuses Russia, China of blocking Asia leaders’ statement
Rodriguez further claimed that Russia’s decision to help block the Asean statement was due to self-interest, as China has been supporting the President Vladimir Putin’s military operation in Ukraine.
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“It’s an expression of gratitude to Beijing over the latter’s support for the illegal and unjustified ‘military operation’ of Russia in Ukraine, and the continued killing of Ukrainian civilians,” he claimed.
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On Sunday, a US official who requested anonymity told foreign media that both Russia and China blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit, that was drafted by Asean member-states.
“Asean presented this final draft and said that, essentially, this was a take-it-or-leave-it draft,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and India all said they could support it, the official said, but Russia and China said they “would not proceed with a statement.”
READ: Marcos challenges China’s premier over West Philippine Sea at Asean meet
Eventually, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the final declaration had not been adopted because of “persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement.”
Tensions over the South China Sea — a considerable part of which China claims to be theirs — have been high in recent months, especially on the Philippine front. National government officials, including key allies of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., have called out China for its actions in the region.
Last August, Marcos and his cousin, House Speaker Ferdinand Marcos, labeled China’s actions as illegal and aggressive, after two Chinese Air Force aircraft harassed a Philippine Air Force (PAF) plane near Bajo de Masinloc, and after a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship rammed a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel near Escoda (Sabina) Shoal.
Both Bajo de Masinloc and Escoda Shoal lie within the country’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
Marcos challenged Chinese Premier Li Qiang over recent clashes in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), during regional summits at the Asean gathering in Laos.
A Southeast Asian diplomat who attended the meeting told reporters that Marcos raised the issue in the meeting with Li, arguing that “you cannot separate economic cooperation from political security.”
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Marcos also stepped up the ante, telling that Asean and China cannot pretend that all is well on the economic front when there are tensions on the political front. With a report from Emmanuel John Arbis, trainee
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