“Calm and stability must prevail in the Taiwan Strait, and certainly the world doesn’t need a new crisis,” she added.
Colonna stressed China should be free to pursue its “economic rise”, but that in exchange it needed to meet international expectations on issues such as human rights.
“For all these reasons we will keep engaging China constructively, and there are actually encouraging signs,” she said.
“Our efforts are paying off somehow and creating positive trends of cooperation.”
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, including waters and islands close to the shores of its neighbours.
The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have also staked claims to various islands and reefs in the sea, which is believed to contain rich petroleum reserves.
Source: CNA
