Asean Maritime Pacts Can Boost Talks On South China Sea Code

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Philippine foreign secretary Enrique Manalo said maritime cooperation among Asean members was not an alternative to the code of conduct.
LANGKAWI: Enhanced maritime cooperation among Asean members could help advance negotiations for a code of conduct in the South China Sea, says Philippine foreign secretary Enrique Manalo.
“We have the basic negotiations between the Asean countries and China, but this doesn’t prevent other countries from seeking maritime cooperative activities with each other, because that, too, will help, even with China,” he said.
“All of these could work and be supportive of the negotiations on the code,” he told FMT.
Manalo, who is in Langkawi for the Asean foreign ministers’ retreat, reiterated the Philippines’ full commitment to the negotiations on the code, which date back to the 1990s in the wake of China’s aggressive pursuit of its claim to sovereignty over large swathes of the sea.
He said critical issues must be dealt with urgently, such as whether the code of conduct would be legally binding, the scope of the code, and its alignment with international laws, particularly the United Nations convention on the law of the sea.
“It’s only in this way that we can really push and move the negotiations forward,” he said. “We can’t do that in an effective way unless we also start discussing the issues.”
Progress on the code has been lagging, while the Philippines, one of the frontline states, has been increasingly vocal about the importance of ensuring a substantive and legally binding agreement.
China’s claims over the South China Sea are disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Last month, Malaysia became the first Southeast Asian country to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam. It is believed that Indonesia and the Philippines may soon follow suit, as Asean members begin uniting more assertively against China’s claims. - FMT

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