China called for accelerated negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for the conclusion of a binding Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea.
Chinese Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing is committed to meet the set target for the conclusion of the COC negotiations as she lamented the interference of a “non-regional” country in the maritime disputes between Beijing and Manila.
“We hope ASEAN countries will work with us toward the set target and speed up consultations for the early adoption of the COC,” she said in a press briefing, adding that the “issue of the South China Sea is highly complex and faces external interference.”
The Chinese official said the second reading of the COC draft was already completed, and that “the third reading has commenced.”
“China and ASEAN countries are working toward the adoption of the COC, which is an important measure in implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. The consultations on the COC are going smoothly,” Mao said.
China and the ASEAN members, including the five other claimant states– the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei—have been working on the COC for many years now.
It has been a perennial agenda item for China and ASEAN since 2002, when the two sides signed the non-binding DOC.
Mao stressed that no “non-regional” country should interfere in the South China Sea, including disputes with the Philippines.
“No non-regional country has the right to interfere in the maritime disputes between China and the Philippines,” Mao said after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized Beijing’s behavior in the disputed waters during a visit to Manila.
Baerbock lamented China’s dangerous maneuvers violate international laws and impede freedom of navigation.
“I think we all agree that the world doesn’t need another crisis.
There are rough winds blowing across the South China Sea, and this is happening in the middle of one of the most dynamic economic regions of the world,” Baerbock said.
She said recent incidents where the Chinese Coast Guard used lasers and water cannons against Philippine vessels “are of concern for us in Europe even though we are thousands of kilometers away.”
“Such risky maneuvers violate the rights opportunities for economic development of your own country and other littoral states as well,” Baerbock said.