Beijing says should be no South China Sea talk at Asia-Europe summit

Reporters take photographs on a Kidd-class destroyer next to a Taiwan-made Panshi ship during a military drill outside a naval base in Kaohsiung port, southern Taiwan, January 27, 2016. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) - The South China Sea is not on the agenda and should not be discussed at a major summit between Asian and European leaders in Mongolia at the end of the week, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday.

The Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, will be the first important multilateral diplomatic gathering after the July 12 ruling by an arbitration court hearing a dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea.