China's Bogus South China Sea 'Consensus' ( Source- The National Interest / Authors- Bhubhindar Singh, Shawn Ho, Henrick Z. Tsjeng)
Chinese trawlers in South China Sea ( Image credits- VOA) Source- The National Interest Authors- Bhubhindar Singh , Shawn Ho, Henrick Z. Tsjeng The recently concluded 15th Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore once again focused on the South China Sea disputes. At the Dialogue, Admiral Sun Jianguo, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission, rebutted criticisms of China’s actions in the South China Sea and reiterated China’s legal right to ignore an upcoming judgement in a case filed by the Philippines at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. As many governments and analysts view ASEAN’s reaction to this upcoming judgement as a gauge of its unity, it is timely to evaluate if Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s announcement of a four point “consensus” reached with Brunei, Cambodia and Laos in late April this year – which contained supposed agreements between the four countries on approaches to manage the South China Sea d