Asean sec-gen Minh: Urgent to engage China over sea spat

Minh arriving at KLIA to attend the Asean Summit

“What is urgent is for Asean to engage China in a more substantive discussion on the elements of the CoC to overcome this challenge as there has been a widening gap between the diplomatic track and the actual condition at sea,” Minh told The Star in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the two-day 26th Asean Summit which starts Sunday.

Asean and China agreed in 2002 on a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC), a document which, among others, reaffirmed the parties’ commitment to international law.