China a firm force in maintaining peace in S China Sea

JAKARTA - China is a staunch force in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, and it will continue its efforts in strengthening coordination and cooperation with the ASEAN to make contributions to the peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Thursday.

China has ample historical and jurisprudential evidences on its sovereignty over the Nansha islands and their adjacent seas, Wang stressed at a press conference after meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa.

Speaking of China's position on the South China Sea issues, Wang emphasized the Chinese government has clear, steadfast and consistent resolve in safeguarding state sovereignty and territorial integrity.

As a responsible power, Wang said, China will stick to its stands on the South China Sea issues, which can be reduced to devoting to maintaining the peace and stability in the South China Sea, effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in an all-round way, and peacefully resolving relevant disputes through friendly negotiations with sovereign states directly concerned.

China has always remained open to discussions on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, the minister said, adding China and ASEAN members have long shared the view of eventually concluding the COC on the basis of consensus reached by all parties, which has been included in the DOC.

The consensus reached by China and Indonesia this time is that all parties shall, through working together, expanding common ground and removing disturbances, discuss and steadily promote the COC procedure in the process of implementing effectively the DOC in an all-round way, Wang said.

He went on that China is willing to continue to hold high-profile meetings on the implementation of the DOC, and agrees to discuss on promoting the COC procedure under the framework of the joint working group on DOC implementation.