Philippines eyes completion of South China Sea code as ASEAN chair next year

MANILA: The Philippines is hoping a code of conduct for the South China Sea can be completed when it is chair of the ASEAN bloc next year, with a consensus emerging between Southeast Asia and China, its foreign secretary said on Monday.

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Philippines hopes to complete a legally binding South China Sea code of conduct during its ASEAN chairmanship in 2026.
ASEAN-China talks on the code have been slow since pledging in 2002, but consensus is now emerging.
Tensions persist over China's maritime claims and Myanmar's stalled peace plan, with dialogue prioritised over elections.

Theresa Lazaro said the code being negotiated between China and the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations should be legally binding.

ASEAN and China pledged in 2002 to create a code of conduct, but it took 15 years to start discussions, and progress until now has been slow.

"I think there is already a sense among ASEAN and China that a code of conduct will be concluded," Lazaro told a press conference.

"It is indeed our intention and I think it is also the aspiration of all of ASEAN and even China to finish and to come up with the code."

Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, which it asserts through a fleet of coast guard and fishing militia that some neighbours accuse of aggression and of disrupting fishing and energy activities in their exclusive economic zones.

Tensions between China and U.S. ally the Philippines have soared in recent years, with both sides accusing the other of territorial infringements. The United States has repeatedly accused China of "destabilising actions".

Lazaro, who has been appointed ASEAN's special envoy for the conflict in Myanmar, said she hoped to build on the work previous chairs had done to try to start dialogue between warring camps.

ASEAN has grown increasingly frustrated with Myanmar's ruling military over its failure to implement a five-step peace plan it agreed after chaos erupted in the wake of a coup in 2021

ASEAN members have stressed that dialogue should be the priority over an election that Myanmar's generals plan to hold in December.

The credibility of the vote has been questioned, including by the United Nations chief, with the junta's widely expected it to stay in power through proxies.