South China Sea dispute on agenda in ASEAN-China summit in Singapore

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China will discuss developments in the disputed South China Sea in their annual summit to be held in Singapore next week, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Junever Mahilum-West told a news conference in Malacañang that the issue will be tackled during the meeting but “as to the detail of the discussions, I cannot say.”

On August 3, China and the 10-member ASEAN, of which the Philippines and three other South China Sea claimants are members, announced an agreement on a single draft South China Sea Code of Conduct negotiating text.

The draft, which will serve as the basis for negotiations of the code, is expected to propel China and ASEAN to reach agreement on a set of formal guidelines in the resource-rich waters as efforts to finalize the accord has dragged on for 16 years.

During his visit to the Philippines last month,  Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China wants to speed up negotiations of the code and have it finalized within the Philippines’ three-year term as dialogue coordinator between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations.

Wang, however, was non-committal on whether China would agree to a legally-binding code of conduct as Beijing continued to face scrutiny over its reported deployment of military aircraft and installation of anti-ship cruise missiles, surface-to-air missile systems and weather observation facilities on Manila-claimed reefs.

The ASEAN-China dialogue is just one of the meetings expected to be attended by President Rodrigo Duterte and other Southeast Asian leaders during the 33rd ASEAN Summit from November 13 to 15.

West said ASEAN will also have meetings with the leaders of its 10 dialogue partners, namely, Australia, Canada, China, European Union, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States.

She said the summits would be an opportunity for ASEAN to deepen cooperation “on a number of priority areas” including infrastructure development; economic cooperation, development of micro, small, and medium enterprises; connectivity, non-traditional security issues like countering terrorism and violent extremism illicit drugs and trafficking in persons.

Duterte may also have bilateral meetings with four or five world leaders, according to West. She declined to provide names.

“Given that this is a summit with the major players in the region, we can expect engaging discussions on regional and international issues that impact on the peace, security, and overall well-being of the peoples of our region,” West said.

Among the issues that may be discussed by the leaders are the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea, the global economy, and the challenges to economic integration and to a rules-based multilateral trade system as well as transnational and transboundary issues, such as terrorism, violent extremism, trafficking in persons, illicit drugs, climate change and disaster management.

West said the leaders might also call for an early conclusion of the negotiations for the planned Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

RCEP, launched in 2012, aims to create a free trade agreement among 10 ASEAN members - a market of 600 million people – with its six dialogue partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, and New Zealand).

“[T]his is very important for the region especially in view of the rising trade developments, tensions. And we expect the leaders to call for the expeditious conclusion of the RCEP,” West said. —NB, GMA News