Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government continues to encourage the acceleration of negotiation and completion of a code of conduct (CoC) for resolving South China Sea disputes, including at the ASEAN Summit 2016 in Laos in September.

"Indonesia is one of the countries that will continue to motivate all sides involved in the South China Sea dispute to speed up the completion of negotiation and establishment of the CoC," Arrmanatha Nasir, the spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, stated here on Wednesday.

According to him, the CoC is essential to maintain regional stability and peace.

The Indonesian foreign affairs minister has discussed the CoC of the South China Sea negotiation process with the Chinese foreign affairs minister at the ASEAN, China Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on July 2016, Arrmanatha noted.

"The meeting was fruitful as there was a spirit to speed up the negotiation on CoC," he added.

The meeting also resulted in a commitment to fully conduct the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) involved in the South China Sea dispute.

DOC is a document formulated in 2002 that became a springboard for relations between the ASEAN and China in managing territorial issues and disputes in the South China Sea.

Four ASEAN countries involved in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea are Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam.

Editor: Ade P Marboen
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