China hopes Xi's visit will be able to establish the kind of strategic trust that can help ease tensions in the South China Sea as Asean and China work on the COC under the coordinating role of Singapore (2015-2018). After the Iran nuclear deal, China wished to expand the cooperation with the US to include other global issues such as the resumption of six-party talks, Ebola pandemics, climate change, cyber security, et al. But whether the two can achieve a modus operandi over the South China Sea, it will depend on how they can balance other core interests.
When US and Chinese leaders are talking, Asean must get its house in order to make sure it retains the process and narrative of the South China Sea disputes — it is the only way to strengthen Asean centrality.
For the first time, the Asean joint communique issued at the end of its 47th annual meeting in early August mentioned "disagreements" among Asean ministers — a departure from the past. In previous practices, the Asean members would bury their differences under the carpet. Now, some of them prefer to dramatise and wash their dirty linen for all to see. This could be the grouping's Achilles' heel in months to come.