Philippines Woos Neighbors to Craft Code on South China Sea

TA Philippine supply boat sails near a Chinese Coast Guard ship during a resupply mission for Filipino troops stationed at a grounded warship in the South China Sea, October 4, 2023.
Picture: Adrian Portugal/File Photo/Reuters

In this article by Reuters, Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema report the escalating tension in the South China Sea between China and the ASEAN nations, and the need for a code of conduct between them as a binding set of rules to reduce the tension in the disputed strategic waters.

In the past few years, ASEAN and China have worked towards creating a framework to negotiate a code of conduct, a plan dating as far back as 2002. But progress has been slow despite commitments by all parties to advance and speed the process.

Talks on components of the code have yet to start, with concerns about how far China, which claims ownership of most of the South China Sea, is committed to a binding set of rules that ASEAN nations want to align with existing international law.

Manila and Beijing have engaged in on-off confrontations for years as China has become more assertive in pressing its maritime claims, alarming neighbors and other nations operating in the key trade route, such as the United States.