Officials at the meeting pose for a joint photo (Photo: asean.org) Jakarta (VNA) – Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Indonesia Arrmanatha Nasir stated on August 18 that the finalization of a code of conduct in the East Sea (COC) will play an important role in easing tensions in the waters.
At the 13th meeting in China on August 15-16 of ASEAN and Chinese senior officials on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, the Chinese side expressed its hope for the COC to be signed in 2017.
Indonesia, however, wished that the document will be inked earlier and hoped the issue will be finalized during the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, in early September.
Nasir added that though Indonesia is not a party in dispute with China in the East Sea, it wants to play a vanguard role in ASEAN in pushing for negotiations and settlement of disputes between concerned sides.-VNA
