VIENTIANE: All Asean countries as well as China have agreed that diplomacy must be used to solve the ongoing issues in the South China Sea region, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said all countries agreed that violence must never be the answer to solve issues relating to the contentious waterway.
"This is an issue that concerns all countries (in Asean). The solution we proposed, which was agreed by all including China, was to avoid violence and use diplomatic channels.
"There must be negotiations and if possible, to use the Asean platform," said Anwar during a press conference at the sidelines of the 44th and 45th Asean Summit and Related Summits that concludes on Friday (Oct 11).
Anwar also said recent clashes involving China and the Philippines in the South China Sea were concerning.
However, Anwar said Chinese Premier Li Qiang had assured that the South China Sea issue would be dealt with peacefully.
"There is an assurance by Li that this issue will be dealt with peacefully, according to the spirit of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)," added Anwar.
The South China Sea has been a contentious issue regionally after China laid claim to the region, despite overlapping maritime claims by Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei.
Last Friday, the Philippines also criticised China's alleged assault of Vietnamese fishermen in the South China Sea.
There were concerns of an armed conflict after China and the Philippines were locked in numerous confrontations.
During the three-day Asean summits, there were also numerous calls by various leaders to speed up the conclusion of the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.
In March this year, it was reported that the second reading of the COC was completed and it is now into its third reading.
Since 2009, China has been Asean's largest trading partner with bilateral trade volume reaching US$546.6bil in the first seven months of this year.
