16/09/2013
Senior Asean officials and China yesterday agreed to speed up the process of finishing the code of conduct (COC) for the South China Sea.
The agreement was a result of the 9th Asean-China Joint Working Group meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties for the South China Sea (DOC) and the 6th Asean-China Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) on the Implementation of the DOC held in Suzhou, China, over the weekend.
Thai Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkaew said it was the first time Asean and China officially talked about the COC, which showed Beijing was serious about discussing this issue.
"This meeting has set a clearer process that the COC will be on the agenda at all meetings of the senior officials," Mr Sihasak said. "The SOM will report the progress of discussions to the Asean foreign ministers and the ministers will report to the Asean leaders."
Read more at The Bangkok Post
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