South China Sea: China and Cambodia vow to move quickly to conclude code of conduct amid tension in disputed waterway

Name: ‘Fruit of peace’: new China-funded airport launched in Cambodia
Uploaded: 2024-04-22T13:00:25.000Z
Duration: 2 min 6 s
Description: ‘Fruit of peace’: new China-funded airport launched in Cambodia

Cambodian Foreign Minister Chenda Sophea Sok tells Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Phnom Penh opposes ‘troublemaking in the region by extraterritorial forces’

Wang emphasised the need for continuous crackdowns on ‘cyberscams and human trafficking’ in the region

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Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Manet (right) shakes hands with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Phnom Penh. Photo: AFP

Zhao Ziwen

Published: 9:00pm, 22 Apr 2024Updated: 9:44pm, 22 Apr 2024

China and Cambodia pledged on Monday to speed up finalising the long-awaited South China Sea code of conduct when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Beijing’s loyal partner.

During a meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol, Wang said both Beijing and Phnom Penh had agreed to protect “hard-earned regional peace” under multiple frameworks, such as the China-Asean (Association of Southeast Asian nations) and Lancang-Mekong cooperations.

Plans for a code of conduct in the region can be traced back to the early 2000s but only reached the third reading late last year.

On Sunday, Wang told Cambodian Foreign Minister Chenda Sophea Sok the two countries should extend cooperation in various fields and create “a favourable external environment” for that cooperation, according to the Chinese foreign ministry’s readout.

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‘Fruit of peace’: new China-funded airport launched in Cambodia

Echoing Wang’s remarks, Chenda Sophea Sok said Phnom Penh expected to see more economic projects in Cambodia under the Beijing-led Belt and Road Initiative, and it “opposes troublemaking in the region by extraterritorial forces”, the readout said.