ASEAN wants peace in Spratlys

ASEAN wants peace in Spratlys

HANOI (AFP): Southeast Asian ministers treaded cautiously on Sunday on the Spratly islands dispute with China ahead of a summit next week that follows renewed irritants in the archipelago.

Philippine foreign secretary Domingo Siazon said the Hanoi declaration to be adopted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after the summit ends Wednesday would make no direct reference to China.

ASEAN leaders will meet with Chinese vice president Hu Jintao here next Wednesday after their own regional summit. They will also hold separate summits with leaders of Japan and South Korea.

Siazon said ASEAN was not against bilateral talks proposed by China to resolve the dispute, which involves four members of the regional organization, but preferred a multilateral approach.

China has avoided discussing the controversial Spratlys and other maritime disputes with ASEAN, saying overlapping claims were bilateral issues.