Philippines is the odd man out.
Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, what these three countries have in common is that this past month or two all of them are deepening their monetary relationship with China, to use more Yuan and local currencies in their trade.
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, firmly in the orbit of the Chinese economy, and everyone is along for the ride.
Myanmar, too isolated, needs China.
Singapore and Burnei, they have a voice but really are too small, they will follow along to what the majority wants.
ASEAN is integrating with China in more and more ways, except for one country who invited a well known belligerent to be more involved in the region. The Philippines is totally isolated with ASEAN. For ASEAN, the Philippines could be the new Myanmar.
If China wants a confrontation with the Americans, this is the place to do it, because Philippines is so isolated.
In short, everyone is playing their own game here. China would want to leverage this small incident for a wider global audience for a global impact. Philippines just a player in a small but real dispute with extremely narrow goals. America, no one knows what the plan is, as they say America does not have a China strategy.