Sea row dominates Southeast Asian summit

NAYPYIDAW, May 11, (AFP): Surging maritime tensions dominated a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders Sunday with Vietnam expected to call on its regional neighbours for support in its deepening territorial dispute with China.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is convening just days after both Vietnam and the Philippines locked horns with China in contested waters, stoking international alarm.

The summit, hosted for the first time by Myanmar in its showpiece capital Naypyidaw, is set to be dominated by discussion of the South China Sea, which is crisscrossed by key shipping lanes and thought to contain vast energy reserves.