A senior Chinese official has expressed shock at the comments of two senior Singaporean diplomats in Jakarta on Monday that China was splitting Asean in reaching a consensus with three Asean states on the South China Sea.

Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said yesterday that China’s intentions have been misunderstood and that his country was waiting for a clarification from Singapore regarding the comments.

The Singapore diplomats made the remarks at a conference in Jakarta after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last Saturday announced a four-point consensus with Brunei, Laos and Cambodia on the South China Sea, including that territorial disputes in the sea were “not an issue between China and Asean as a whole”.

Former Asean secretary-general and Singapore’s Ambassador-at- Large Ong Keng Yong criticised the move as tantamount to China “meddling” in Asean’s internal affairs.