Thailand 'supports' China's efforts to maintain maritime peace
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Thailand 'supports' China's efforts to maintain maritime peace

Leaders pose for photo during the Asean-China Summit in Vientiane (From left to right) Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak pose for photo during Asean-China Summit in Vientiane on Wednesday. (Reuters photo)
Leaders pose for photo during the Asean-China Summit in Vientiane (From left to right) Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak pose for photo during Asean-China Summit in Vientiane on Wednesday. (Reuters photo)

VIENTIANE - Thailand said on Wednesday said it "supports China's efforts" to maintain maritime peace amid a regional dispute over the South China Sea.

The comment from Thailand, which has historically maintained a neutral stance on the South China Sea, came hours after the Philippines released pictures showing what it said were Chinese boats near a disputed shoal in the sea.

"Promoting peace and stability in the ocean is important to all parties and Thailand supports China's efforts in this regard. Discussions must reduce mistrust," Maj-Gen Weerachon Sukondhapatipak, a Thai government spokesman, told Reuters on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Vientiane.

Asked whether Thailand was siding with China, he said Thailand "wants to see peace maintained in the interests of all parties", without giving further details.

China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts or all of the resource-rich South China Sea.

An international arbitration panel, in a case brought by the Philippines, ruled in July that China's building of numerous artificial islands was illegal and its claims to most of the South China Sea had no legal basis.

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