China offered the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) a friendship treaty and loans worth $20 billion on Thursday, but Prime Minister Li Keqiang pressed that Beijing will only address the South China Sea disputes through direct settlements with other claimants.

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There are six ASEAN members claiming the South China Sea and disputes are growing amongst China, Taiwan and four other countries.

According to Li, who announced the offers during the summit held in Myanmar, China will stand firm to be the first dialogue partner to sign with the friendship and cooperation treaty of ASEAN.

The treaty is said to be an attempt by the Chinese to dismiss the notion that they are a threat as Li pressed that China is more than willing to make pacts with countries so as to establish good ties with its neighbors.

As for the loan that amounted to US$20 billion, Li explained that this loan can be in the form of preferential and special loans for the infrastructure development in countries that are still struggling to fund the roads, ports and railway systems. He said this is an attractive proposition in order to help boost the growth of a country.

Li maintained that China would settle any dispute bilaterally rather than collectively and will follow arbitration.

The Philippines is also one of the ASEAN members that claim territory over South China Sea which has irked the Beijing because of its desire to seek international arbitration. However, it was reported that the Philippines is actually agreeable with the friendship treaty that China offers but noted that it lacked substance.

The Philippines also said China's new offer is similar to a 2012 treaty that the it proposed to China but was ignored by the latter.

The meeting held among the ASEAN countries resulted to the other leaders persuading China not to be as aggressive. Both the Philippines and Vietnam are seeking closer ties with the U.S. ties in a bid to counter the supposed aggression of China. 

TagsASEAN, friendship treaty