ASEAN seeks Spratly guarantees

ASEAN seeks Spratly guarantees

KUNMING, China (AFP): China's smaller neighbors are expected to seek reassurances over a long-standing South China Sea territorial dispute as meetings between ASEAN and China begin here on Monday.

The move comes amid nervousness in the region over a diplomatic row between Beijing and Manila over Chinese structures on a coral reef just 135 nautical miles from the Philippine island of Palawan.

Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will ask China to sign a regional code of conduct in a move to check alleged expansion in the Spratly Islands.

The code will spell out guidelines governing activities in the disputed chain, Philippines' foreign undersecretary Lauro Baja told reporters in mid-March.

China, Taiwan and four of the eight ASEAN nations -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam -- all partially or wholly claim the Spratlys, a group of reefs, islands and shoals which lie along strategic shipping lines and are believed to harbor rich oil reserves.