China has also blamed the US of stirring up trouble in the South China Sea, a vital waterway through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. US secretary of state John Kerry will urge Southeast Asian nations in meetings in Laos next week to explore diplomatic ways to ease tensions over the South China Sea following an international court ruling against China’s claims. “Secretary Kerry is in Nice today on private business,” a senior state department official travelling with Kerry said in Paris. The annual ASEAN gathering will be the first since the July 12 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in a claim brought by the Philippines that China has no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea. Kerry travels to Laos’ capital Vientiane on Monday for meetings of foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of South East Asia Nations where tensions between China and several ASEAN members, in particular the Philippines and Vietnam, over the South China Sea is expected to dominate talks.

Source: Hindustan Times July 23, 2016 12:56 UTC