China State Councillor and Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi said his country will speed up consultation on the Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea and work with all stakeholders to create a sea of peace and cooperation.
During a bilateral meeting with Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, he said both sides agreed on maintaining peace and stability in the region through political consensus.
“We will advocate true multilateralism and advanced open regionalism. We will uphold Asean centrality and the Asean Regional Cooperation Framework.
“We will oppose confrontation and cold war mentality,” he said, referring to the contentious sea in his joint press conference with Saifuddin after their meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.
The COC is intended to reduce the risk of conflict in the South China Sea in the disputed waterway where several Asean member states and China are involved in overlapping territorial claims.
Wang (above) is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia which started yesterday.
He said Malaysia is the last stop of his five-nation tour of Southeast Asia from July 3 to 14. The other four countries were Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Throughout the trip, Wang said he felt strongly about the aspiration of countries in the region for peace and development as well as the profound friendship between the people of China and Asean countries.
“And I feel deeply and strongly the urgent need and bright prospects for enhanced cooperation between China and Asean.
“The people of China and Aean countries have been interacting in this piece of land with one another for over millennia and no one can separate this. No one can stop us from marching towards development and multilateralism,” he said.
Wang said China stood ready to work with Malaysia and other Asean countries to deepen strategic mutual trust, enhance strategic coordination, and work together to uphold regional stability and promote common development.
On China-Malaysia relationships, he said both countries will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) next year and the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2024.
Wang said he was here to revisit both countries’ regional aspirations, past progress and achievements, as well as to work with Malaysia to set new goals for relationships, identify new priorities, and bring both countries’ cooperation to new heights.
- Bernama
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