China, ASEAN meet over South China Sea debate

China and Southeast Asian nations will meet to set non-binding guidelines for keeping peace in the South China Sea, after territorial disputes over the potentially oil-rich waters have heightened tensions in recent months, Bloomberg reported. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will meet with counterparts from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations today. The countries settled yesterday on a framework to implement a 2002 agreement on behavior in the sea, which calls on signatories to avoid occupying disputed islands, inform others of military exercises and resolve territorial disputes peacefully. In addition to this code, ASEAN ministers are seeking a legally binding code of conduct with China. The Philippines, however, has said the agreement fails to address the root of recent tensions, and is planning to ask a United Nations arbitration panel to demarcate disputed areas of the sea. In addition, Chinese state media reported on Wednesday that a group of Filipino lawmakers had flown to what China calls Zhongye Island in the South China Sea to assert their claims in the area.