ASEAN FMs to meet ahead of South China Sea talks with China

ASEAN Foreign Ministers will meet ahead of discussions with China on the South China Sea issue that is expected to be held later this year, an official said here on Thursday.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary General Le Luong Minh told media on the last day of the summit that the ministers would meet to consolidate their common stance before beginning discussions with China.

Responding to questions,Minh reiterated that all claimants of the South China Sea, which includes ASEAN Chair Brunei, have already reached an agreement based on international law and the guidelines outlined in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) that was released ten years ago.

"It is the practice of ASEAN that we approach discussions with an external party after first having come to a common position. This has already been largely achieved during numerous previous discussions. However, we have now requested the officials of ASEAN to further consolidate this stance so that we can discuss the way forward with China," he said.

He insisted that ASEAN would strive to engage with China peacefully and pointed out that since the South China Sea included trade routes used by very powerful countries it was important to take the discussion forward in as peaceful a method as possible.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa had earlier noted that there is no date set to launch formal negotiations between ASEAN and China on a code of conduct (CoC) in the region's disputed waters.

China says disputes over the sovereignty of some islands in the South China Sea and the overlapping of ocean rights in some parts of the region should be solved by the countries concerned through dialogue and negotiation on the basis of respecting history and international laws.