China ready to sign code of conduct on Spratlys
China ready to sign code of conduct on Spratlys
Agence France-Presse, Manila
China has expressed willingness to sign a "code of conduct" for the peaceful resolution of rival claims to islands in the South China Sea, Philippine officials said on Friday after meeting with China's number-two leader Li Peng.
"We are moving forward. We are leaving the schedule and the timing (of the signing) to the ASEAN foreign ministers and the Chinese foreign minister," House of Representatives Speaker Jose de Venecia told reporters after meeting Li.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, have struggled to put in force a code of conduct in the South China Sea.
ASEAN also wants other claimants to disputed areas in the South China Sea, China and Taiwan, to accede to the proposed code.
De Venecia said Li told him the countries should "work out amicable relations in the South China Sea and we should try to advance the process" for signing the code.
All claimants to the Spratly chain except Brunei have troops on the islands, making it a potential military flashpoint, defense analysts have said.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting between Li and de Venecia, both sides said they "pledged their continued endeavor to seek an early acceptance of the proposed code of conduct in the South China Sea by China and ASEAN countries."
The code of conduct, first proposed by the Philippines, sets rules of behavior to reduce tensions in the area, followed the construction by China in the mid 1990s of permanent structures on Philippines-claimed Mischief Reef and confrontations between the Philippine navy and Chinese fishermen.
However efforts to finalize the code have been delayed by disputes over the wording of the code and the area it would cover.
De Venecia said signing the code would also ease the tensions caused by the repeated cases of Chinese fishermen being caught by the Philippine navy for illegally fishing in the waters off the western Philippines.
Li had expressed concern for the numerous Chinese fishermen who had been languishing in Philippine detention centers, sometimes for more than six months.
Meanwhile, the Philippines said Friday it is preparing to free 122 Chinese fishermen but has arrested 38 more despite Li's visit.
Chinese ambassador Wang Chung Gui agreed to have the 122 detainees plead guilty and pay a total of about US$54,700 in fines, Perez told reporters.