China, ASEAN to talk on South China Sea

Foreign ministers of China and Indonesia have agreed that China and ASEAN countries will set up a working group to create rules for a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes in the South China Sea.Border rows involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa met in Jakarta on Thursday. Wang is currently touring Southeast Asia. Indonesian minister said the working group will craft a binding code of conduct to peacefully settle the territorial disputes. Ministers also agreed to establish a group of experts who will assist during negotiations on the code.China and Indonesia also agreed to set up an emergency hotline. Wang said China has sufficient historical and legal basis to claim sovereignty over the islands. He said it is not China but other parties that are causing a change in the region.Wang's remark appears to be criticizing the Philippines. That country requested the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea arbitrate its territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.