From left, with formal titles: Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar's State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Mr Li, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo and Laos' Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith. According to the new "Declaration for a Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027)", the leaders note that "the current environmental situation in the South China Sea requires collective attention and action to protect the marine ecosystem and biodiversity." Asean members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as China and Taiwan, have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, an international sea lane believed to be rich not only in marine resources but also oil and natural gas. According to experts, the South China Sea is the source of 12 percent of global fishing catch, a vital channel for $5 trillion worth of annual trade, and potentially holds 11 billion barrels of oil reserves and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. To mend the strained relations of the Philippines and China, Duterte, who came into power in 2016, decided to temporarily set aside the arbitration ruling.

Source: Bangkok Post November 13, 2017 17:26 UTC