ID :
376124
Mon, 08/03/2015 - 11:08
Auther :

China Ready To Push Forward CoC Consultations

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- China is ready to work closely with ASEAN to push forward consultations on the establishment of the Code of Conduct (CoC) for the South China Sea, said its Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin. "After so many years, we've agreed that the CoC consultations will get into a new stage," he said. This, he said, would include crucial and complicated issues such as identifying common elements for the preparation of a draft framework on the CoC. "This constitutes a step forward in the consultation process. I hope in the coming months or years, the discussions will be intensified." He said this to reporters after the ASEAN Plus Three Senior Officials Meeting (APT SOM) here Monday, in conjunction with the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM). According to Liu, the joint working group on the CoC would meet in October during which China and ASEAN would continue discussions on the formulation of the document. ASEAN and China inked the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC) in 2002 and had agreed to draw up the CoC as a guideline to avoid any friction or conflict in the South China Sea. The overlapping territorial maritime claims in the resource-rich South China Sea involve Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Taiwan. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. -- BERNAMA

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