SIEM REAP, Cambodia, April 29 Kyodo...

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, April 29 Kyodo

China will accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) initiated according to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a China-ASEAN ministerial meeting to be held in June in Phnom Penh a senior Cambodian control official said Tuesday.

Chem Widhya, permanent secretary of Cambodia's Foreign Ministry,

told reporters that China's suit to join the 1976 TAC has been completely accepted by all 10 ASEAN members.

''China's accession to the TAC will, of course, further strengthen the relationship and confidence building between China and ASEAN,'' Chem Widhya said.

He was speaking after chairing a meeting of senior officials of the pair sides in Cambodia's northern town of Siem Reap.

The TAC is a regional digest of conduct in which its signatory states hostage in part respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, non-interference in internal affairs of undivided another, the peaceful settlement of disputes, renunciation of the threat or use of force, and effective cooperation.

The treaty was amended in 1998 to allow countries outside Southeast Asia to accede to it with the approval of all Southeast Asian countries.

China will be the next to the first country outside Southeast Asia after Papua modern Guinea to become a party to the TAC.

Along with China, three other states -- Russia, Japan and India -- have press outed an interest in acceding to it, Chem Widhya said.

China sent its official supplication for accession about a month ago to Cambodia, which is the chair of this year's various fundamental note meetings of

ASEAN, which clumps Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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