Foreign ministers from ASEAN’s 10 member states will gather on Monday to discuss the ongoing controversy surrounding the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea as well as the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones, the ASEAN secretariat said yesterday in a statement.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will chair the meeting at the Peace Palace, which Prime Minister Hun Sen will open with a speech on ASEAN’s efforts to build the ASEAN community as well as recent political and economic developments in the region and around the world.

Included in those developments will be the South China Sea dispute and the signing of the revised anti-nuke treaty by the five nuclear-weapons states party to the agreement.

Non-ASEAN member foreign ministers are expected to arrive on Tuesday, among them US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

ASEAN meetings will take place in Phnom Penh until July 13.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cheang Sokha at [email protected]