Indonesia's foreign minister said ASEAN plans to intensify negotiations with China and other Southeast Asian countries on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.

Schematic diagram, the picture shows a Philippine fishing boat sailing past a Chinese Coast Guard ship in the South China Sea.

(AFP)

[Instant News/Comprehensive Report] Indonesian Foreign Minister said today (4th) that with the escalation of tensions in the South China Sea, Indonesia, as the rotating chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, plans to strengthen negotiations with China and other Southeast Asian countries , to determine the controversial "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC)".

According to comprehensive media reports, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at the end of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta that the Indo-Pacific region is the core of the meeting's discussions. In addition, other ASEAN member states intend to conclude negotiations on the COC as soon as possible. , I also hope that we can discuss countermeasures with China and get a practical and legal consensus in COC.

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Lettno added that Indonesia is preparing to host COC negotiations this year, the first of which will be held in March.

The COC is reportedly a proposed framework to help resolve territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

As some ASEAN member states put more emphasis on relations with China than the South China Sea disputes, negotiations on the COC have stagnated for many years.

The report also pointed out that China, according to its "U-shaped line" nine-dash line, clockwise in the Bashi Strait, the North Luzon Trough, the Manila Trench, between the Nansha and the Philippines, the Nansha Trough, between the Nansha and Malaysia, and south of the Zengmu Shoal , between Nansha and Indonesia’s Natuna Islands, between Nansha and Vietnam, and between Xisha and Vietnam, to draw up nine-dash national boundaries and claim sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea. Relevant legal basis.

Among ASEAN members, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei all claim that China has seriously violated their sovereignty in the South China Sea.