KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (NNN-BERNAMA) — China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday that China and ASEAN have the full capacity, wisdom as well as the responsibility to maintain peace and tranquillity in the South China Sea.
Speaking in a joint news conference after a bilateral meeting with Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein here Tuesday, Wang said ASEAN should also work together to “remove external obstruction” in the South China Sea.
He said China and ASEAN should also continue to work for the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (CoC).
“We are both in the view that the South China Sea should not be the ground for major power wrestling, teeming with a warship.
“China and ASEAN should work together to remove the external obstruction and continue to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC) and endeavour for the early conclusion of the effective and meaningful CoC,” said Wang, who is on a two-day official visit here.
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said both Malaysia and China had, during the bilateral meeting, agreed on the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the region.
“Disputes should be addressed through peaceful means, including through regional dialogues and discussions amongst the parties concerned, without resorting to threat or the use of force,” Hishammuddin said.
The territorial disputes in the strategic South China Sea involved four ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, as well as China and Taiwan.