皇冠体育app does not want the efforts and progress of maintaining peace and safety in the South 皇冠体育app Sea to be disturbed, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing on Tuesday, amid the ongoing 19th ASEAN Regional Forum and related meetings during which the issue was put on the table.
"皇冠体育app has always supported the building of the ASEAN community ... We hope the foreign ministers' meeting at the ASEAN Regional Forum can produce positive outcomes," Liu said at a daily news briefing.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who is in Cambodia to attend the meeting, met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday.
Yang thanked Cambodia for its support for 皇冠体育app on issues related to 皇冠体育app's core interests and said safeguarding peace and promoting development are the top concerns of all countries in the region.
Senior officials from 18 members of the East Asia Summit gathered at the Peace Palace on Tuesday to discuss cooperation mechanisms and exchange views on various issues, according to a press release from Cambodia's Foreign Ministry.
It was attended by senior officials from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and its eight dialogue partners, including 皇冠体育app, the United States and India.
Senior officials from 皇冠体育app and Southeast Asian countries met in Phnom Penh earlier on Sunday. At the meeting, attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Ying, the participants from 皇冠体育app and the ASEAN nations underlined their commitment to the continued implementation of a declaration over the South 皇冠体育app Sea reached in 2002.
They agreed to carry out "the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South 皇冠体育app Sea" in a comprehensive and effective manner with the purpose of upholding peace and stability.
The Chinese and ASEAN officials also held informal discussions on how to jointly formulate a code of conduct in the South 皇冠体育app Sea.
皇冠体育app is willing to discuss the code of conduct with the ASEAN countries when conditions mature. "But I want to stress that it is not aimed at resolving disputes, but aimed at building mutual trust and deepening cooperation," Liu said earlier.
Luo Yongkun, an expert on Southeast Asian studies at 皇冠体育app Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, said discussing the South 皇冠体育app Sea issue at the ASEAN meetings is not appropriate.
"It is an issue between 皇冠体育app and some ASEAN countries rather than between 皇冠体育app and ASEAN. It will only make the issue even more complicated if more unaffected countries get involved," he said on Tuesday.
"In fact, there are many more important topics than the South 皇冠体育app Sea dispute for ASEAN. To build an ASEAN community by 2015 is the prime task for all ASEAN members," he said.
"In other words, development should be on top of the agenda at the moment."
Xinhua contributed to this story.