Four Asean members -- Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei -- have competing claims with Beijing over parts of the South China Sea. That statement had expressed alarm over Beijing's activities in the South China Sea. After talks stuttered on Sunday, Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a late night statement warning that the South China Sea had become "a test case for the unity and the central role of Asean". VIENTIANE - Vietnam has warned that the inability of Southeast Asian nations to forge a unified front against Beijing's militarisation of the South China Sea is a "test" of the regional bloc in the face of its greatest security challenge. Cambodia and Laos were later fingered as being behind moves to block the joint statement.

Source: Bangkok Post July 25, 2016 05:48 UTC