News Story: ASEAN, Chinese officials, maritime experts to convene in Manila to discuss cooperation - Manila

MANILA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Senior diplomats and maritime experts from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to convene in Manila this week to discuss ways to enhance practical cooperation in the South China Sea, the Philippine foreign department said on Monday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement that it will hold a seminar on Tuesday and Wednesday on the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea(DOC) that China and ASEAN inked in 2002.

It said the two-day seminar hopes "to build on the gains that have been achieved so far in efforts to build peace and stability in the South China Sea."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Trump-Kim Summit Would Likely Require Major Concessions

Brian Padden

SEOUL — Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s expressed willingness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon as neither side is prepared to offer any concessions to warrant such a high level summit.

When Trump on Monday said he would be "honored" to meet the North's young leader, in an interview with Bloomberg News, he also added the caveat, “under the right circumstances I would meet with him.” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later clarified that "clearly conditions are not there right now."

Following Trump’s conditional offer of dialogue with Kim, the U.S. flew two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers near the inter-Korean border Tuesday during a training exercise with the South Korean air force. The North’s official KCNA news agency responded to the joint drill by accusing the U.S. of “pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war."

Tensions on the Korean peninsula remain high as the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to restrain Pyongyang from further nuclear tests by pressing China to increase sanctions and by emphasizing a willingness to use military force if needed.