South China Sea: Asean To Prepare Code Of Conduct

By Jamaluddin Muhammad PHNOM PENH, April 4 (Bernama) -– Asean will prepare a code of conduct in the South China Sea before discussing the overlapping claims issue with China. Prime Minister Najib Razak said Wednesday, China would not be involved with the drawing up of the code prepared by Asean. "Once we have settled with Asean, then we will discuss with China," he told the Malaysian media at the end of the two-day, 20th Asean Summit here. He said several countries highlighted and emphasised the discussion on the South China Sea should be conducted in an Asean-China framework. Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, China and Taiwan have jurisdictional and territorial overlapping claims in the South China Sea. During the Asean Summit Retreat Session, leaders from the 10 Southeast Asian nations also touched on the Korean Peninsula issue by calling for early resumption of the Six-Party Talks, in the interest of peace, security and stability in the peninsula. Najib said the leaders hoped North Korea's plan to launch a missile in the near future would not take place. On the Global Movement of Moderates mooted by Malaysia, he said the country appreciated all Asean member countries for the support on this idea. Najib also attended the 6th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit and the 8th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit here. He said, while the two areas had potential, their development had not produced the desired results and hoped their development could be further accelerated, especially in the halal products, services, tourism and agriculture sectors. -- BERNAMA