Cooperation over confrontation. That seemed to be the common thread on the final day of the ten-plus-three meeting.
On the sidelines of the meeting, China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry acknowledged areas of disagreement, but emphasized several areas of increasing cooperation -- including on nuclear non-proliferation, combating terrorism and climate change.
Talks between Wang Yi and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts mirrored those sentiments.
"We have agreed on the significance of cooperation among East Asian countries in this region and the world. We have agreed to work towards an integrated economic community in East Asia. China, South Korea and Japan have confirmed that ASEAN will take a leading role in this process," Wang said.
18 Asian and western countries pledged to deepen cooperation in areas such as finance, energy, environment and disaster management and work together to resolve regional and international concerns.
The U.S. Secretary of State took a conciliatory stance on the South China Sea issue -- following China's call for calm.
"The peaceful settlement of these disputes is absolutely critical, we think to all of us. And we encourage all of the claimants to behave responsibly and to exercise restraint. I want to emphasize again as I have every time I talk about this issue, the United States of America does not take a position on the side of one claimant or another claimant. We don't get involved in the substance of somebody's claims," Kerry said.
