Asean voices alarm over China sea spats

Southeast Asia's regional bloc voiced alarm yesterday over escalating tensions in the South China Sea after members Vietnam and Philippines squared off against Beijing in the disputed waters.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers "expressed serious concerns over the on-going developments" in the sea, which is subject to a web of bitter overlapping claims, on the eve of a leaders' summit in Naypyidaw.
Beijing claims sovereign rights to almost the whole of the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.
Tensions in the South China Sea soared this week after Beijing moved a drilling rig into waters that are also claimed by Hanoi, sparking a stand-off in which Vietnam said its boats were attacked.