DFA: China sets meeting with ASEAN on code of conduct framework

China is set to host a meeting with members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in May on the Code of Conduct framework amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea. 

This was announced by Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in a press conference along with other Cabinet officials joining President Rodrigo Duterte for a two-day visit in Thailand. 

“China will be hosting a meeting in May and hopefully by that time, we have made significant progress on the framework,” Manalo said. 

He said expert groups are already meeting on the Code of Conduct framework.

“One of the key things that will be considered there will be the work on the framework kasi ngayon nagmi-meeting experts groups on the framework itself and the hope --  I’m not saying it will happen -- but the hope of everyone is that by the time we get to the meeting in May, the senior officials in the ASEAN China may be able to already have, at least, a preliminary agreement on the framework,” Manalo said. 

“And the Philippines is fully committed in seeing that we can get to that point,” he added.

Manalo said the framework, once completed, will jumpstart “serious discussions” on the “key elements” of the Code of Conduct.

The ASEAN and China have signed in 2002 a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties on the South China Sea. A legally-binding document to manage regional disputes, however, has yet to be approved.

Manalo said the Philippines’ insistence on the completion of the Code of Conduct is with the aim that disputes are settled through diplomatic and peaceful means. 

“All countries, even though we may have some disputes, we have to behave and deal with each other in a way that doesn’t lead to conflict but rather promotes cooperation,” he said.

“The President has been very clear. We want to have a peaceful and diplomatic settlement of these disputes but we will not fail to protect our national interest if necessary,” Manalo added. 

Manalo likewise said that a legally binding Code of Conduct will put the Philippines in a position “to actually discuss how we can settle disputes peacefully.”

The Philippines has overlapping claims with China in the South China Sea, parts of which Manila refers to as the West Philippine Sea. 

A decision issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in July last year ruled ruled in favor of the Philippines, as it invalidated the so-called nine-dash line, China’s basis for claiming almost the entire South China Sea.

China however has repeatedly refuse to recognize the said decision. — MDM, GMA News