US push on South China Sea falls short at ASEAN summit - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/02/17/asea-f17.html
President Barack Obama concluded the first-ever summit with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders to be held in the United States with a press conference yesterday that elaborated no major initiatives. While the two-day gathering at Sunnylands, California took place against mounting US tensions with China over the South China Sea, the final declaration made no specific reference to the maritime disputes, despite Washington’s wishes.
Over the past year, the Obama administration has ramped up pressure on Beijing, demanding a halt to land reclamation activities and alleged militarisation in the South China Sea. The US Navy has twice mounted so-called freedom of navigation operations, deliberately intruding within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit around Chinese-administered islets, most recently at Triton Island on January 30.