ASEAN, China agree to complete sea code by 2026

MANILA, Philippines, May 4 ------ The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China are “politically committed” to conclude a legally binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea by next year, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said. “Everyone has agreed that we would all like to have a code by 2026 that we have to agree,” Manalo told reporters on the sidelines of the  Maritime Security Symposium 2025. “We’ll try our best,” he said. 

The foreign affairs chief said ASEAN member-states still need to have a consensus among themselves on certain issues. “Well it’s contentious in the sense that there are issues that need to get the consensus of all countries,” Manalo said. “But as the President said we still have to address important issues such the scope of the code, also the nature of the code and its relation also to the declaration of the principles adopted in 2002 on the South China Sea,” he pointed out. 

During its hosting of the latest round of negotiations for an ASEAN-China Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, the Philippines voiced its concerns over incidents that posed risks to Philippine vessels and personnel in the West Philippine Sea, as well as over actions by other countries that infringed on the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction. 

The meeting of the Joint Working Group on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (JWG-DOC), which is tasked with undertaking the COC negotiations, was held in Manila on April 9-11. The JWG-DOC is co-chaired by Malaysia and China. The Department of Foreign Affairs said the meeting was an opportunity for the Philippines to strongly call for the need to adhere to international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award. 

Source: philstar.com