Joint Cabinet meeting of ASEAN, China proposed to solve South China Sea issues

BANGKOK, April 25 (TNA) - Thailand has proposed that the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China hold a joint Cabinet meeting in the near future to discuss solutions to issues in the South China Sea. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told TNA in Brunei on Thursday afternoon that she raised the proposal at the 22nd ASEAN Summit, which was wrapped up in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei's capital, earlier in the day, aimed to settle territorial disputes among concerned parties and bring about peace to the South China Sea. Yingluck said that the ASEAN-China joint Cabinet meeting was proposed to be held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of relations between the 10-member ASEAN and China. According to the Thai prime minister, the two-day ASEAN Summit 2013 in Brunei also resolved that ASEAN ministers will later discuss concrete cooperation among the ASEAN member countries after the formation of the ASEAN Community over the next two years, covering trade and investment facilitation, tourism, poverty reduction, security and mutual prosperity. The Thai premier revealed that Brunei also proposed to open special channels for ASEAN tourists and investors and to exempt visas to provide people of the 10-member ASEAN bloc with convenient travels. Besides, the Thai prime minister acknowledged, many ASEAN member countries wanted joint planning to narrow the gaps of incomes, as well as economic, social and civil development in the region to promote security and prosperity of the ASEAN Community, set to be established by 2015. (TNA)