Bloc vows to finalise pact with China

Ready for talks: Marsudi says Asean members are committed to concluding the discussions ‘as soon as possible’. — AP

South-East Asian foreign ministers vowed to finalise negotiations with China over a proposed pact aimed at preventing conflicts in the disputed South China Sea in their annual retreat in Jakarta.

China and Asean member states, which include four rival claimants to territories in the South China Sea, have been holding sporadic talks for years on a “code of conduct”, a set of regional norms and rules aimed at preventing a clash over the disputed waters.