China and Asean members agreed on Monday to avoid basing people on now-uninhabited islands and reefs in the disputed South China Sea, as the bloc made its first official joint statement on the waters since an international tribunal ruling this month.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ joint communique expressed serious concerns over land reclamation and “escalations of activities in the area”, but did not directly challenge China nor mention the ruling.

China scored an unequivocal diplomatic victory Monday, preventing Southeast Asia’s main grouping from criticizing it for territorially expanding in the South China Sea, even though some of the bloc’s members are victims of Beijing’s actions.

After hectic negotiations, the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations issued a watered-down rebuke that amounted to less than a slap on the wrist, and exposed the deep divisions in a regional body that prides itself on unity.