2016年CRI China, ASEAN Officials Meet over South China Sea

（单词翻译）

The 22nd China-ASEAN Senior Officials' Consultation¹ has taken place in Singapore this Wednesday and Thursday.

The sessions mainly focused on how to implement² the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea, or the DOC.

Chinese Vice³ Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin co-chaired the meeting with Chee Wee Kiong, who heads Singapore's Foreign Ministry⁴.

Liu Zhenmin says those in attendance have agreed to continue talking about ways to make the Declaration more conducive⁵ to the current realities in the South China Sea.

He says the Declaration is to be tabled at a forthcoming meeting among the Foreign Ministers from China and ASEAN in July.

"The main elements of the document will include confirming the parties' commitment to the DOC, underlining the status and role of the DOC, reaffirming the parties' recognition of the main principles and spirit of the DOC, maintaining peace and stability, upholding freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, insisting that disputes should be solved through negotiations⁶ between the parties directly concerned."

The consultation this week in Singapore has become an annual gathering⁷ for diplomats⁸ from China and ASEAN countries.

Aside from issues in the South China Sea, the sessions are also a chance for officials from China and ASEAN countries to talk about other issues.

This year's Consultation has been held in Singapore for the first-time.

The city-state replaced Thailand in October as the coordinator⁹ for China-ASEAN relations.

As part of the discussions over the past 2-days, the delegates have also been hammering out the details of how they plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the beginning of official talks between China and the 10-nation bloc¹⁰.

Chee Wee Kiong says ASEAN feels its important to mark the occasion.

"The 25th anniversary is a timely juncture¹¹ to review ASEAN-China strategic partnership¹², to discuss ways to strengthen this partnership, including through effective implementation¹³ of the ASEAN-China Plans of Action for 2016 and 2020,"

The anniversary celebrations are scheduled to take place after this year's ASEAN Summit, which is due to be held in the Laotian capital, Vientiane, in September.

For CRI, this is Qizhi.