MANILA (The Thursday Times) — ASEAN and China failed to conclude a long-delayed code of conduct for the South China Sea under the Philippines’ chairmanship, despite reaching provisional agreement on about 80 percent of the draft, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro said on Sunday.
“There is no conclusion yet,” Lazaro told a press conference at the summit of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila. She said several key issues remain unresolved, including whether the code would be legally binding. “The ASEAN countries plus China have also different views on how things are,” she added. Negotiations have dragged on for more than two decades, and the Philippines, as this year’s chair, had committed to speed them up and conclude the code before the year ended.
Law and claims
China’s Southeast Asian neighbours want the code grounded in international law, which they have repeatedly accused Beijing of disregarding as it asserts sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea. Beijing maintains that its actions there have been lawful and professional. Its claims overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, which is why a workable code is seen as essential to preventing escalation and managing incidents at sea.
An international arbitration tribunal ruled in 2016 that China’s sweeping claims have no basis under international law, a decision Beijing rejects. Manila and Beijing have been locked in a series of confrontations in recent years. The Philippines accuses China of aggressive actions inside its exclusive economic zone, including dangerous manoeuvres, water-cannoning, and disrupting resupply missions, while China accuses the Philippines of intruding into what it claims as its territory.
Divisions inside ASEAN
Analysts say the disagreement is not only between ASEAN and China. Collin Koh, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said divisions among ASEAN members, including over the geographical scope of the code, have also slowed talks. “Other than Beijing, intramural divergences within ASEAN also play a significant role,” he said, adding that the remaining gaps would require “major concessions” from the parties. Singapore takes over the ASEAN chairmanship next year and will inherit the task. ASEAN leaders opened their summit in Manila earlier on Sunday.
