Phnom Penh, March 26 (IANS): Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated on Wednesday that the South China Sea dispute was not one between the entire Asean group and China, but one between "claimant countries and China".

"It is not the issue of the whole Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), but the issue between claimant countries and China. They need to negotiate with each other," he said, reported Xinhua.

Sen noted that all parties concerned in the dispute should continue peaceful negotiations based on international laws and agreed documents, and fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) towards the compilation of the Code of Conduct (COC).

His remarks came a a month ahead of the 26th Asean Summit, which is scheduled to be held in Malaysia April 24-27.

The Asean group comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The dispute revolves around contested claims over ocean areas and the Paracels and the Spratlys island chains in the South China Sea.

China, Vietnam and the Philippines have been the major contesting parties, while Malaysia and Brunei also lay claim to territory in the sea that they say falls within their economic exclusion zones, as defined by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).