A draft of the communiqué obtained by AFP showed the section titled "South China Sea" currently blank. Communist-ruled Laos also has close links with Beijing and has been accused of preventing a united front on the South China Sea issue. That statement had expressed alarm over Beijing's activities in the South China Sea. (EPA photo)VIENTIANE - Staunch China ally Cambodia is preventing Southeast Asia from reaching a consensus on the South China Sea after an international tribunal rejected Beijing's territorial claims to the waters, a diplomat said on Saturday. A Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP Saturday that only Cambodia is standing in the way of a joint statement on the waters.

Source: Bangkok Post July 23, 2016 07:30 UTC