China, Philippines Hold Meeting on Confidence-building MeasuresThe third China-Philippines Experts' Working Group Meeting on Confidence-Building Measures (EGM-CBM) began its two-day meeting in Manila on Tuesday, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to peaceful settlement of their differencesDuring the meeting, the two sides reiterated the importance of bilateral relations, and that differences should not interfere with the normal development of bilateral ties, especially cooperation in he fields of economy, trade and agriculture. They reviewed the situation in the South China Sea and reaffirmed their commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes in the area. They also reviewed previous confidence-building measures agreed upon during previous meetings of the EGM-CBM, a technical working group tasked to look at possible projects that can be undertaken by both sides in order to build confidence between the two neighboring countries. The EGM-CBM will continue its meeting on Wednesday with the objective of working out specific confidence-building measures. This year's EGM-CBM meeting is co-chaired by Philippines' Assistant Foreign Secretary Willy Gaa and Director-General Fu Ying of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The first EGM-CBM meeting was held in the Philippines in 1999, and the second in China in 2000. |
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