Duterte: South China Sea will remain a 'flashpoint' without code of conduct

The situation in the South China Sea will remain hostile without a regional code of conduct, President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday.

"We are also asking for the conduct. That's about it. No terms of preference except that we want the code of conduct enacted by--at the very least at the end of the year. So, everybody would just feel comfortable sailing there. Because if not, it remains to be a flashpoint," Duterte said in a press conference after the 30th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Pasay City.

On China's supposed militarization of the South China Sea, Duterte said "you have to be very careful whenever we talk about anything of [military] build-up."

"For those who are peace-loving, just like me, I do not want trouble," he said.

Southeast Asian nations and China have been trying for years to come up with with a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

Last month, former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario said that the July 12, 2016 international arbitration ruling in favor of the Philippines should be included in the regional code of conduct.

“We believe that the arbitral ruling should be an integral part of the Code of Conduct: we cannot promote the rule of law while ignoring the law as it stands,” Del Rosario said.

Duterte said that the South China Sea region was one of the hotspots in the world where tensions could possibly escalate.

"[South] China Sea and [North] Korea are the two flashpoints there, including the Middle East. You have three flashpoints in the world today. For those who are peace loving just like me I don't want trouble. You have to be very careful," he said.

Duterte also said that the ASEAN leaders are very worried about the latest North Korean missile launch.

He said a communiqué on the situation in the Korean Peninsula may be included in the Chairman's Statement set to be released on Saturday night. —ALG, GMA News