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BANDAR SERI BAGAWAN, Brunei (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Brunei for meetings with top officials from China and its smaller Southeast Asian neighbors, in which he will urge all countries to cool tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Kerry will make the case in Wednesday discussions with China's prime minister and the leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. U.S. officials said Kerry would urge the ASEAN states to be more united in disputes with China and call on the Chinese to accept a binding code of conduct to govern maritime behavior until those disputes are resolved.
Kerry is filling in at the summit for President Barack Obama, who had to cancel his participation due to the government shutdown in Washington.
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