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By Manuel Mogato and Stuart Grudgings | MANILA/KUALA LUMPUR | Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:47am EDT | Reuters

As Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario began to raise the sensitive issue of the South China Sea
at one of last week's Asian summit meetings, his microphone went dead.

A technical glitch, said the Cambodian hosts. Perhaps something more sinister, hinted some diplomats who
were frustrated by Chinese ally Cambodia's dogged efforts to keep the subject off the agenda.

That account and others, described to Reuters by diplomats with direct knowledge of the talks and who asked
not to be identified, reveals how deeply Southeast Asian nations have been polarized by China's rapidly
expanding influence in the region.



The fast-growing 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which aims to form an EU-style
economic bloc by 2015, insists it remains united despite its failure for the first time in 45 years to agree a
concluding summit statement.

But Reuters' interviews reveal deep discord and frayed tempers at last week's summit that are sharply at odds
with the group's self-styled reputation for harmony and polite debate.

The breakdown has left attempts to craft a maritime "code of conduct" this year between ASEAN and China in
tatters, raising the risk that growing incidents of naval brinkmanship over the oil-rich waters will spill over into
conflict.

It also underlines the huge challenge facing the United States as it refocuses its military and economic attention
on Asia in response to China's rise. The South China Sea has become Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint
as Beijing's sovereignty claims set it against Vietnam and the Philippines racing to tap possibly huge oil reserves.