Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday accused some forces within the Philippine military and police of deliberately provoking incidents at sea, saying such actions serve the interests of external forces, undermine efforts to improve China-Philippines relations, and threaten regional peace and stability.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn in Manila.

Wang said the South China Sea is the common home of regional countries and should not become a barrier to China-ASEAN relations. He said regional countries should remain highly vigilant about Philippine provocations over the South China Sea issue.

He said China is willing to work with ASEAN to remove disruptions, accelerate consultations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, and jointly make the South China Sea a sea of peace, stability, cooperation and friendship.

Kao Kim Hourn spoke highly of China-ASEAN relations and the outcomes of practical cooperation. He said that ASEAN looks forward to using the fifth anniversary of the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership as an opportunity to strengthen strategic alignment, deepen cooperation in trade, investment and the digital economy, expand people-to-people exchanges, and promote further development of bilateral ties.

He added that next year marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and that ASEAN supports accelerating consultations on the COC and working with China to make the South China Sea a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship.