COC in East Sea hoped to be completed in three years
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on November 13 that negotiations with ASEAN nations on a code of conduct (COC) in the East Sea would be completed in three years.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a meeting on November 12 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said onNovember 13 that negotiations with ASEAN nations on a code of conduct (COC) inthe East Sea would be completed in three years.
Speaking during his visit to Singapore, Li saidthat over the past few years, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in theEast Sea (DOC) has played an important role in maintaining peace and stabilityin the region, and China hopes that this will create chances to help obtainimportant strides in the COC consultation.
Earlier, in talks with Singaporean PrimeMinister Lee Hsien Loong, Li said Beijing is ready to join regional countries’efforts in accelerating the COC consultation process.
Last August, ASEAN and China agreed on a “singledraft” negotiating text of the COC, an important stride towards narrowingdifferences among parties. It is considered the basis of future negotiations ona substantive, effective and efficient COC in conformity with internationallaw, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.–VNA
Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has affirmed China's consistent stance of attaching importance to ASEAN's central role and the country’s support for the bloc's efforts in building its Community.
Vietnam always calls on all concerned parties to avoid militarisation, restrain, implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) fully and effectively, and build a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea, a Vietnamese diplomat has said.
The recent activity of China putting into use observatories, that were built on structures it illegally constructed and renovated in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, seriously violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over the islands, said spokesperson for the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang.
Vietnam and China held the 10th round of talks of the working group on the sea area off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin and the 7th one of the working group on cooperation for common development at sea in Ningbo city, China’s Zhejiang province, on November 6 – 7.
The ASEAN Political-Security Community Council (APSC) and the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) convened their meetings in Singapore on November 13 to review the grouping’s cooperation, and complete reports and documents to be submitted to the leaders.
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a meeting on November 12 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) 
