Fifteen years after their first joint declaration on the South China Sea disputes, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China have agreed to adopt a framework to guide future negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the contested sea.
Fifteen years after their first joint declaration on the South China Sea disputes, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China have agreed to adopt a framework to guide future negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the contested sea.
The Asean foreign ministers and China would formally endorse the document called “Framework of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, ” during their meeting in Manila on Aug. 6, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday.
The ministers’ meeting is part of the week-long Asean-related meetings the Philippines will chair from Aug. 2 to 8, when the regional bloc will mark its 50th anniversary.
The foreign ministers will meet from Aug. 5 to 8 at the Philippine International Convention Center.
“We expect the Asean-China foreign ministers to endorse the Framework of the Code of Conduct [in the South China Sea] at their meeting on Sunday, ” DFA spokesperson Robespierre Bolivar said on Monday.
The framework was finalized during the senior officials meeting in Guiyang, China, last May, he said.
The foreign ministers will formally adopt the document at their regular meeting this August.
