The meeting with China would be held after all ASEAN member states had agreed on any "project" and "activity" that might be carried out in the South China Sea, the object of dispute among several countries, Director General of ASEAN Politics and Security at the Foreign Ministry Ade Padmo Sarwono said here on Sunday night.
After they had reached the agreement, the talks with China could be continued to determine what, when, where and how the project would be carried out, he said.
The dispute in the South China Sea involves China and four ASEAN member states, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.
Ade said a working group of ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting discussed a code of conduct (COC) on Sunday to lay a basis for cooperation among countries around the South China Sea in a series of activities ahead of the 19th ASEAN Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali.
The discussion on COC was a continuation of such discussion after ASEAN senior officials had agreed on a guide for the application of DOC in July 2011 in connection with the dispute in the South China Sea.
The agreement on a guide for the implementation of DOC was reached after nine years of talks between ASEAN member states and China.
The agreement was a sign of all relevant parties` intention to ease tension due to overlapping claims over the energy-rich region.
After the agreement had been reached, all parties including China would resume their dialogues on COC which contains specific and technical matters related to cooperation around the South China Sea, he said.
The guide for the DOC among others calls for gradual implementation of DOC pursuant to provisions in DOC, he said.
All parties to DOC would later continue their dialogs and consultations according to the DOC spirit, he said. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
