THE PHILIPPINES is hoping a code of conduct (CoC) for the South China Sea can be completed when it chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc next year, with a consensus emerging between Southeast Asia and China, its Foreign secretary said on Monday.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro said the code being negotiated between China and the 11-member ASEAN should be legally binding.
ASEAN and China pledged in 2002 to create a code of conduct, but it took 15 years to start discussions, and progress until now has been slow.
“I think there is already a sense among ASEAN and China that a code of conduct will be concluded,” Ms. Lazaro told a press conference.
“It is indeed our intention and I think it is also the aspiration of all of ASEAN and even China to finish and to come up with the code.”
Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, which it asserts through a fleet of coast guard and fishing militia that some neighbors accuse of aggression and of disrupting fishing and energy activities in their exclusive economic zones.
Tensions between China and US ally the Philippines have soared in recent years, with both sides accusing the other of territorial infringements. The United States has repeatedly accused China of “destabilizing actions.”
The dispute, however, involves other actors, such as Vietnam and Brunei, making it “imperative” that the long-delayed agreement is finalized, an analyst said.
“A legally-binding document is necessary given that aside from the politico-security facet, we have just also deepened more our ties with PRC under Malaysia’s leadership — the ASEAN-CHINA FTA 3.0,” Josue Raphael J. Cortez, ASEAN Studies lecturer at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde said in a Facebook messenger chat.
“Therefore, a constructive yet pragmatic approach is needed, and such binding CoC may provide the pathway on how we can ensure that we may be cold politically, but economically-speaking, we are more than ready to work and engage.”
Mr. Cortez noted China had argued the Philippines has no power to seek mediation or arbitration as these are not “part and parcel” of the agreements signed by the Southeast Asian nation, in relation to the dispute.
“Therefore, by adopting a framework that would have the integral legal safeguards, we can ensure that we can continue our quest and clamor for our territorial integrity without the other party using the same argumentations.”
Francis M. Esteban, a faculty member at the Far Eastern University Department of International Studies, finds the pursuit of a sea code is a “natural course of action” for the ASEAN bloc, with the Philippines’ chairship.
“However, it is one thing to push for a code of conduct, and another to observe and enforce it,” he said in a Facebook messenger chat. “We have to make sure that all parties will be able to observe and enforce such CoC.”
MYANMAR CONFLICTIn the same briefing, Ms. Lazaro, who has been appointed ASEAN’s special envoy for the conflict in Myanmar, said she hoped to build on the work previous chairs had done to try to start dialogue between warring camps.
ASEAN has grown increasingly frustrated with Myanmar’s ruling military over its failure to implement a five-step peace plan it agreed after chaos erupted in the wake of a coup in 2021.
ASEAN members have stressed that dialogue should be the priority over an election that Myanmar’s generals plan to hold in December.
The credibility of the vote has been questioned, including by the United Nations chief, with the junta’s widely expected to stay in power through proxies. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana and Reuters
