MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has convened the first meeting of regional maritime experts to study Manila’s proposal for avoiding conflict over disputed West Philippine Sea islands but even the host is acknowledging it’s a process fraught with difficulties.
Two senior Filipino diplomats told The Associated Press that China has protested the two-day meeting that started Thursday. China claims the entire West Philippine Sea, also known as South China Sea, as its own.
The meeting is limited to maritime and legal experts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The Philippine proposal being discussed includes delineating the disputed Spratly archipelago so claimant countries could demilitarize and turn them into “zones of friendship.”