Foreign ministers from ASEAN and China will hold a special meeting to hasten progress on a code of conduct in the disputed South China Sea, Indonesia's foreign minister said Thursday.
The meeting was proposed by China and all countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to participate, Marty Natalegawa told reporters at a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Brunei.
The agreement is potentially significant as China has insisted on handling territorial disputes bilaterally with individual countries, while ASEAN wants to speak as a group, a disconnect blamed for hindering progress on a code.
Although no date has been set, Natalegawa said the planned meeting underscored the importance of making "progress on the code of conduct and to maintain a positive atmosphere in the South China Sea".
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