Wang Yi applauds code of conduct in South China Sea framework

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China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi applauded a framework for a code of conduct in the South China Sea reached between foreign ministers of Southeast Asia and China saying it is the "most concrete" progress of the meeting.

Wang made the remarks at a press conference shortly after the close of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila, the Philippines, on Tuesday.

Foreign ministers from China and members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Sunday reached a negotiating framework for a code of conduct in the South China Sea, seeking to advance a 2002 Declaration of Conduct (DOC) of Parties.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is seen after the launching ceremony of the ASEAN Regional Forum Annual Security Outlook as part of the 50th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meetings in Manila, the Philippines August 7, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The framework is an outline for how the code will be established.

The Chinese foreign minister said the adoption of the framework created a solid foundation for negotiations that could start this year, if "the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable and on the premise that there is no major interference from outside parties."

He told reporters there had been "really tangible progress" so there was "a need to cherish momentum on the South China Sea".

US, Japan, Australia sabotage regional stability?

While China is trying to resolve disputes with the Southeast Asian countries through dialogue, certain countries do not recognize China's efforts and newly-reached framework, Wang said referring to a joint statement by US, Japan and Australia.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Foreign Ministers Taro Kono of Japan and Julie Bishop of Australia released a joint statement, expressing serious concerns over "reclamation" and "militarization" in the South China Sea, which were accusations leveled at China. The ministers called on China to abide by an arbitral tribunal’s 2016 ruling on an arbitration case brought by the Philippines against China. China ignored the ruling, describing it as "nothing but a political farce".

US State Secretary Rex Tillerson passes by the table of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the start of the 7th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting and its dialogue partners as part of the 50th ASEAN Ministerial Meetings in Manila, Philippines August 7, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Wang said China has been consistently making efforts to resolve disputes in the South China Sea through dialogue and negotiation, but certain countries are sabotaging Beijing's effort.

"We can't help wondering whether these countries are really willing to see the stabilizing of the situation in the South China Sea? Whether the regional stability fit into their national interests?" Wang criticized.

DPRK tops the agenda

Speaking of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Wang said the nuclear proliferation in the Korean Peninsula is the "most talked" about issue at this year's ARF meeting.

DPRK's delegation has been closely watched following the country's most recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests in July.

On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on the DPRK that could slash its 3 billion US dollars annual export revenue by a third, following its latest missile test.

Wang said although the nuclear crisis cannot be resolved through dialogue at the forum, it is helpful that all parties listened to each other.

Kim Yong Dae, vice-president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, meets with diplomatic envoys of ASEAN countries at the Mansudae Assembly Hall, in this undated photo released on August 7, 2017. /KCNA Photo

Wang told officials at ARF forum on Monday that the new resolution showed China and the international community's opposition to DPRK's continued missile tests.

The Chinese foreign minister reiterated again on Tuesday's media briefing.

China will always enforce the UN resolution, which is necessary to bring all parties back to negotiation table, he said.

But he also said the key to resolve the nuclear crisis is security not economy. The international society hopes to press the DPRK to stop the development of nuclear weapons through sanctions, but what Pyongyang wants is to ease military threat from the outside, he said.

Wang said China fully appreciates comments earlier this month by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the United States does not seek to topple the DPRK government and would like dialogue with Pyongyang at some point.

The United States does not seek regime change, the collapse of the regime, an accelerated reunification of the peninsula or an excuse to send the US military into the DPRK, Tillerson said.

Wang said Tillerson's "Four Nos" promise was a positive signal.

China "hopes the DPRK can echo this signal from the United States", Wang added.

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