China signals high hopes for South China Sea ‘golden rules’ by end of year

China signals high hopes for South China Sea ‘golden rules’ by end of year

China has signalled strong optimism for finalising negotiations with neighbouring Asian countries to seal a new institutional framework on contested South China Sea waterways. At China’s annual foreign policy press conference on Sunday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the negotiations as having entered a “critical phase” for talks on the South China Sea Code of Conduct (CoC) – a proposed set of rules between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at the heart of easin...

By Alyssa Chen