China and Brunei on Monday agreed to upgrade their relations to a strategic cooperative partnership.
Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah met on Monday and reaffirmed their political resolve to enhance the bilateral ties through cooperation and collaboration across various areas, the two sides said in a joint statement.
China firmly opposes those actions under the pretext of "freedom of navigation and overflight" to undermine the sovereignty and security interests of littoral countries along the South China Sea, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday.
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted here Wednesday the China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2030, widely seen as an ideal model for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
In remarks that carried a barely veiled swipe at China, US Vice-President Mike Pence told leaders of Southeast Asian nations in Singapore on Thursday that "empire and aggression have no place" in the region.
In a sign that the all-around cooperative partnership between China and Singapore has progressed with the times, Premier Li Keqiang started a five-day official visit to the Southeast Asian country with a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart on Monday.
China hopes its talks with Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct in the South China Sea will bear fruit in three years, visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here on Tuesday.
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