South China Sea: Asean, Beijing continue to work towards code of conduct
- Sides have ‘deepened mutual trust and understanding … managed our differences peacefully’, says Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says biggest threat to safety in disputed waterway comes from countries outside the region
China and its Southeast Asian neighbours have reiterated their commitment to work together to avoid confrontation and clashes in the disputed South China Sea, as Beijing also called for greater cooperation on trade.
Speaking on Wednesday at a regional summit in Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, prime minister of the city state, said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China would continue to advance their strategic partnership and pointed to the joint maritime exercise held last month as evidence of how the two sides could build good relations.
“We have deepened mutual trust and understanding, and managed our differences peacefully,” he said.
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing has stepped up its military deployment in recent years, is one of the main agenda items at the Asean-China meeting, especially in the light of the close encounters between Chinese and US naval vessels.
US Vice-President Mike Pence said in a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xhan Phuc on the sidelines of the summit that Washington was committed to maintaining openness in the waterway.
“We share your desire for a binding Asean code of conduct to ensure free and open navigation in the South China Sea,” he said.
In a separate interview with The Washington Post, Pence said the US would not be intimidated by China.