Liu Zhenmin News

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from the United States on Thursday, declaring he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks. Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he is visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate. "In this venue, your honours, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States…

China and South Korea held talks on delimiting their overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the Yellow Sea – the first such discussions in seven years. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin talked to his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul on maritime demarcation. Chinese foreign ministry says a reasonable and fair solution between the two countries is significant to the regional peace and stability. President Xi Jinping and his ROK counterpart Park Geun-hye agreed to start the talks in July 2014 during Xi's visit to the ROK. Beijing believes that the ownership of Suyan Rock, a submerged feature in the East China Sea in the exclusive economic zones claimed by both China and the ROK, should be determined through negotiation.

About 100 Chinese fishing boats have been detected encroaching in Malaysia's waters in the disputed South China Sea, Malaysia's state news agency and a coastguard official said on Friday. The reported encroachment on Thursday is the latest action by Chinese vessels to raise concern in Southeast Asia, where four countries object to China's claim to virtually the whole of the South China Sea. Malaysia's national security minister Shahidan Kassim said assets from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the navy have been sent to the area near the Luconia Shoals to monitor the situation, the Bernama news agency reported. Shahidan did…

China and South Korea held a key meeting seeking to resolve boundary issues in the Yellow Sea. The Chinese delegation was led by Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin while South Korea was represented by 2nd Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, according to statement. Representatives of the two countries' foreign and defense ministries attended the negotiations. Ties between Beijing and Seoul have been steadily improving in recent years, and both sides are optimistic that progress will be made. Some are even saying that these talks could prove to be a blueprint for dealing with similar disputes across the region. Both sides agreed that maritime borders delimitation must be conducted in the atmosphere of mutual trust…

China’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that China and South Korea will hold their first round of talks on maritime delimitation over the Yellow Sea in the South Korean capital of Seoul on December 22. The talks, led by South Korean Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, will be held in Seoul next Tuesday, the South Korean ministry said in a release. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun Hye agreed to launch negotiations during Xi's visit to South Korea in July last year, China News Service reports. They had agreed to launch negotiations this year on the demarcation of their maritime boundaries amid tension over their overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

China said on Sunday it will continue to build military and civilian facilities on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea and the United States was testing it by sending warships through the area. "Building and maintaining necessary military facilities, this is what is required for China's national defence and for the protection of those islands and reefs," Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur. China planned to "expand and upgrade" the civilian facilities on the islands "to better serve commercial ships, fishermen, to help distressed vessels and provide more public services", Liu said, adding that China rejects the notion that it is militarising the South China Sea. He said China has mostly built civilian facilities.

China has shown "great restraint" in the South China Sea by not seizing islands occupied by other countries even though it could have, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday ahead of two regional summits where the disputed waterway is likely to be a hot topic. Beijing has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Reclamation work and the building of three airfields and other facilities on some of China's artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago have alarmed the region and raised concern in Washington that China is extending its military reach deep into maritime Southeast Asia.

China's naval commander told his U.S. counterpart that a minor incident could spark war in the South China Sea if the United States did not stop its "provocative acts" in the disputed waterway, the Chinese navy said on Friday. Admiral Wu Shengli made the comments to U.S. chief of naval operations Admiral John Richardson during a video teleconference on Thursday, according to a Chinese naval statement. The two officers held talks after a U.S. warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of one of Beijing's man-made islands in the contested Spratly archipelago on Tuesday. China has rebuked Washington over the patrol, the most significant U.S. challenge yet to territorial limits China effectively claims around its seven artificial islands in one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said on Monday the disputed South China Sea should not be discussed at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Liu, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the 48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting, which kicks off in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, said the meetings should avoid all talk on the sensitive issue, adding that countries outside ASEAN should not interfere. "It should not be discussed," said Liu. "This is not the right forum. This is a forum for promoting cooperation. If the U.S. raises the issue we shall of course object. The issue was not on the official agenda…