11.   The Philippines has drafted a regional code of conduct for countries with conflicting claims in the Spratly islands, Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said Tuesday.

12.   The reef is among dozens of islands, reefs and atolls in the Spratly island chain which the Philippines claims and which it calls the Kalayaan Island Group.

13.   The two nations were involved in a confrontation earlier this year when China built some structures on one Spratly island claimed by the Philippines.

14.   Ties between China and the Philippines had already been strained by a territorial dispute over the Spratly islands and Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

15.   He called on rival claimants to the Spratly islands to work out a settlement and volunteered US assistance in the process.

16.   He said Chinese President Jiang Zemin had agreed with him on the code of conduct in operating around the disputed Spratly islands.

17.   He said that the resolution of claims on the Spratly islands in the South China Sea would be an indication of future relations of Asian countries with China.

18.   However, a contentious issue remains the setting of distances for naval boats around the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea, Severino added.

19.   A Turkish freighter sank in the South China Sea near the Spratly islands, west of the Philippines, coast guard officials said Monday.

20.   A team of Filipino and Vietnamese scientists departed Wednesday for the disputed Spratly islands on a research voyage that also aims to promote cooperation among the claimant countries.