The presence of a double standard might be the most conspicuous feature of the U.S. proposal. Some Southeast Asian countries have invaded and occupied Chinese territories in the South China Sea since the 1970s. In particular, Viet Nam and the Philippines are the two most rampant invaders. They continuously take actions to consolidate their occupation over these islands and shoals of Chinese territories, yet the United States has never expressed its concern or demanded them to freeze their provocative actions.

The United States and the Philippines have worked together to pressure China on the South China Sea issue. The Philippines also tried to get other ASEAN states on its side on the issue during this year's AMM. Its so-called three-phase proposal suggests first suspending all actions, second establishing a code of conduct on South China Sea and third resolving disputes through international arbitration. An outrageous detail is that the Philippines did not follow its own proposal—the country has been trying to fulfill the third step of occupying eight islands of Chinese territory in the South China Sea via international arbitration.

Jia said the United States involves itself actively in the South China Sea issue to make trouble for China via its formidable power in the international community. "Setting a trap for China in the South China Sea is meant to serve the U.S. strategy of rebalancing toward Asia-Pacific. The United States wants to instigate conflict between China and ASEAN states," he claimed.

For this reason, "the U.S. proposal is centered around China. Its ulterior motive of criticizing China jeopardizes peace and stability in the South China Sea," Jia said.

To recover U.S. influence in Southeast Asia, the Obama administration has taken a combination of measures in recent years. Politically, the United States has joined all important regional multilateral mechanisms led by ASEAN. Economically, it has enhanced trade relations with ASEAN countries. Russel pointed out last month that ASEAN has become the fourth largest trading partner of the United States. Last year, the U.S.-ASEAN trade volume reached $206 billion.

On defense affairs, U.S. armed forces have organized a series of joint military exercises with ASEAN countries, while U.S. military deployment also returned to the region. For example, the United States and the Philippines signed a 10-year defense treaty in April, by which U.S. troops will return to the Philippines.

China-ASEAN cooperation

Despite U.S. intervention in the South China Sea, China has laid a solid foundation for cooperation with ASEAN countries in past decades.

Ruan Zongze, Vice President of the China Institute of International Studies, said that all parties are struggling with the South China Sea issue, increasing tensions during the AMM and its related meetings in recent years. But these pressures cannot change geopolitical relations between China and ASEAN, according to Ruan.

He added that most ASEAN countries are willing to promote their domestic economic development through partnerships with China. China will also unswervingly support practical cooperation with neighboring countries and develop good-neighborly relations and friendship.

China has made a number of remarkable achievements in terms of economic cooperation with ASEAN countries. However, the huge potential that lays in future cooperation between the world's second largest economy and ASEAN must be backed up by a guarantee.

Riots against China that broke out in May in Viet Nam over China's deployment of an oil rig in its own waters have led to serious casualties of Chinese people and a serious loss of Chinese investment in the country. The incident illustrates that China's investment in ASEAN countries is under threat of extreme nationalism if a conflict erupts between China and so-called claimants on the South China Sea issue.

Wang Yuzhu, a researcher on Asia-Pacific regional cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said that China and ASEAN need to enhance both political mutual trust and economic cooperation. The two sides could build mutual trust and defuse hostility by reaching the good-neighborly and friendly cooperation treaty, he suggested.

Zhang Jie, a regional security expert with the National Institute of International Strategy under the CASS, indicated that cooperation between China and ASEAN still falls short of political mutual trust. "If territorial disputes cannot be resolved, it will hinder regional economic cooperation in the future," he said.

China and ASEAN countries could adopt a step-by-step approach to enhancing political mutual trust—a process that could be set in motion by pursuing relatively attainable objectives in low-sensitivity areas, Zhang said.

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