ASEAN, China expected to resume COC talks in PH next month

MANILA – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China are set to hold the next round of negotiations on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea in Manila this August.

This development comes as the two parties completed the second reading of the single draft COC negotiation and adopted the “guidelines” to speed up the talks.

In the Philippines’ omnibus intervention at the ASEAN-China meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said Manila looks forward to having an “effective and substantive” COC.

“Regarding developments in the South China Sea, we call for the effective management and peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law,” he said.

“We welcome the completion of the second reading of the Single Draft COC Negotiating Text (SDNT) and look forward to continuing the COC negotiations in Manila in August, with a view towards adopting an effective and substantive COC,” he added.

The “Guidelines to Accelerate Negotiations for the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea” was adopted during the same meeting between ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Wang Yi.

No details have been provided as of yet but the adoption came as Indonesia, this year’s ASEAN chair, highlighted the increasing importance of ASEAN-China partnership amid growing challenges in the region.

Wang, during the meeting, conveyed his readiness to “play a constructive role” in the COC’s early conclusion.

Like Manila, the rest of ASEAN targets to produce a COC that is in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In a joint communique released on July 13, the bloc also pointed out the need to maintain and promote a conducive environment while negotiations are ongoing.

“We stressed the importance of undertaking confidence building and preventive measures to enhance, among others, trust and confidence amongst parties, and we reaffirmed the importance of upholding international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS,” it said.

China, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian states are locked in a territorial dispute over the resource-rich South China Sea.

In 2013, Manila brought Beijing before the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, which handed a landmark decision in favor of the country in 2016.

With China continuing to reject the move, it is not clear if the award would be incorporated into the future COC.

The decision was constituted under the UNCLOS and ruled that the claim of historic rights to resources in areas falling within the so-called nine-dash line is illegal.

On the award’s seventh anniversary on July 12, Manalo also pointed out that the ruling is “now part of international law”.

Upholding PH’s interest

The Department of National Defense (DND) also joined the commemoration of the seventh anniversary of the arbitral ruling.

“The Award, underscoring the primacy of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea serves as an anchor for the DND to protect our national interests in the West Philippine Sea based on established rules and generally accepted principles of International Law,” the DND said in a statement Friday.

It added that shall continue with its efforts to modernize the territorial defense capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines aside from enhancing security engagements and collaboration with our regional partners.

This includes supporting the nation’s courses of action for the maintenance of order in the South China Sea. 

“The DND stands fully behind this victory of the Filipino people, which cannot be frittered nor bargained away. Keeping true to our sworn mandate to our people, we continue to work on making the Philippines an archipelago of stability in the Asia-Pacific region,” it concluded. (with Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)