President Obama will reaffirm our national interest in the maintenance of peace and security in the region, and internationally. And that includes freedom of navigation, over flight, respect for international law, the rule of law, unimpeded lawful commerce across the region's maritime domain.
We further seek to see the Law of the Sea used as the overriding framework for handling territorial disputes. So we expect that there will be such a frank discussion. We have been heartened by the strong response by a number of the countries that are part of ASEAN and part of the broader East Asia Summit.
