BANGKOK: China is ready to work with Southeast Asian countries for long term peace and stability in the South China Sea, Chinese premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday after meeting leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
China’s sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea are rejected by several members of ASEAN, which have competing claims in the busy waterway.
At the summit in Bangkok, Li cited progress on a long-awaited South China Sea code of conduct, due for completion within three years.
“We are willing to work with ASEAN, under the consensus that had been reached, to sustain long term peace and stability in the South China Sea, according to the timetable set for three years,” Li said in a statement.
A legally binding code has long been a goal for ASEAN members sparring over what they see as China’s disregard of sovereign rights and its obstruction of their energy exploration and fishing.
![]()
Beijing ready to work with ASEAN for South China Sea peace
Beijing ready to work with ASEAN for South China Sea peace
- China’s sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea are rejected by several members of ASEAN
- Long-awaited South China Sea code of conduct due for completion within three years
Germany’s Merz and Ukraine’s Zelensky praise truce efforts
- Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin had agreed to a week-long halt on attacks
BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday welcomed “efforts in favor of a truce,” Berlin said, after Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin had agreed to a week-long halt on attacks on Ukraine’s power grid.
Merz at the same time stressed that “the systematic and brutal destruction of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure by Russian attacks” was “still ongoing,” which he condemned “in the strongest terms,” his spokesman, Stefan Kornelius, said.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.