Asean seeks to heal South China Sea territorial rift
Southeast Asian foreign ministers sought on Saturday to heal a rift over territorial rows involving China, aiming to build unity ahead of a leaders’ summit.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers sought on Saturday to heal a rift over territorial rows involving China, aiming to build unity ahead of a leaders’ summit in which rights and trade will also dominate.
The hot-button South China Sea issue was one of the top items for the ministers as they held a day of talks in the Cambodian capital, following months of acrimony over how to tackle China’s claims to nearly all the waters.
“We wish that we would be able to solve this problem together,” Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, told reporters at the start of the meeting.
“We hope that if there is anything we can do to help to build this new culture of norms... of new habits of working together we would like to help.”
The foreign ministers’ meeting is to pave the way for the annual Asean leaders’ summit in Phnom Penh on Sunday, which the bloc is hoping will push forward policies on human rights and free trade.