'Asean should unite vs Chinese coercion'

THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) should unite against increasing Chinese interference and coercion, a US senator said amid the deepening maritime conflict between the Philippines and China.

Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, a ranking member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Asean countries "should focus on China's foreign interference in their domestic affairs, coercive economic practices, unfounded territorial claims, and efforts to divide Asean."