ASEAN officials meet in Thailand

ASEAN officials meet in Thailand

BANGKOK (AFP): Senior Southeast Asian officials met in Thailand on Monday, hoping to make progress toward a proposed "code of conduct" with China on hotly disputed territories in the South China Sea.

Negotiators from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are meeting in the seaside resort of Hua Hin, 281 kilometers south of Bangkok to set the agenda for the group's ministerial meeting in the capital in July.

On Wednesday, the officials will meet counterparts from China to try to make progress on the code of conduct spurned by Beijing at the Manila ASEAN and partners summit last November, Thai officials said.

The guidelines are intended to ease tensions in the South China Sea, especially in the disputed Spratly islands.