Durterte says nobody can afford war over South China Sea

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday (November 12) that the thorny issue of the South China Sea was better left untouched and that no one could afford a war over the disputed waterway, as he addressed a business conference ahead of the two-day summit of Southeast and East Asian nations in the capital Manila.

In Vietnam earlier on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was prepared to mediate in the dispute over the South China Sea, where four Southeast Asian countries and Taiwan contest China's sweeping claims to the South China Sea.

Leaders at the Philippines summit will discuss the South China Sea, but mainly to agree on a procedural step to cool tensions.

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In August, foreign ministers of Southeast Asia and China adopted a negotiating framework for a code of conduct in the resource-rich waterway, a move they hailed as progress but one seen by critics as a tactic to buy China time to consolidate its power.

Philippines Foreign Minister Peter Cayetano said on Sunday ASEAN nations were in agreement over the the framework and that the humanitarian crisis faced by the Rohingya minority in Myanmar would also be under discussion during the summit.