China's Wen proposes joint development of Spratlys
Mainichi Daily News
KUALA LUMPUR (Kyodo) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has proposed that countries having territorial claims over the Spratly Islands work together and jointly develop resources found in the disputed area in the South China Sea, according to The Star daily Wednesday.
In an interview with Malaysian and Indonesian media ahead of his visits to both countries this week, Wen said, "I totally agree that the countries concerned can and should have joint development of resources in the South China Sea because this is in the interest of regional peace in the area and it also serves the interests of all claimant countries," according to the report.
The Spratly Islands is a cluster of over 750 reefs, islets and atolls in the South China Sea thought to have extensive oil and gas reserves.
China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have laid claims over the area. Though Indonesia is not staking a claim, together with Malaysia and Vietnam it filed a protest with the United Nations in 2009 over a map of the area submitted by China to the world body.
Click to read more
