Spratlys tops Li Peng's agenda

Spratlys tops Li Peng's agenda

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Chinese premier Li Peng will visit Malaysia for four days beginning today with the dispute over the Spratly islands topping the agenda, officials said yesterday.

"Kuala Lumpur is expected to impress on Beijing that Spratlys claimants should not use force," a foreign ministry official told AFP. Li last visited Malaysia in 1990.

Scattered across the South China Sea, the Spratlys are a chain of islets, reefs and shoals claimed partly or entirely by China, Taiwan and four ASEAN members -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

In April, the Philippines military claimed China had deployed frigates around one of the islands.

Analysts said the neighboring Paracel Islands are a possible additional future flashpoint for the East Asia region.