With Laos acting as chair and Cambodia as recent recipient of China’s largess ($600 million given on July 15, 2016), Asean is paralyzed from issuing a joint statement in reaction to the ruling by the International Tribunal at the Hegue that stated there was “no legal basis for China to claim historic rights” over the South China sea.

A diplomate was quoted as saying: “It’s very grave. Cambodia just opposes almost everything, even reference to respect for legal and diplomatic processes which already had been said in previous statements,”