Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines –Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said that the Code of Conduct on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) agreed upon by member nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) would be negotiated with China.
In a DFA statement released Wednesday, Del Rosario called for an “eventual realization of a credible, binding, and enforceable regional Code of Conduct in the West Philippine Sea,” saying this is of part of ASEAN’s collective goal of enhancing maritime cooperation.
“The ASEAN plus Three Cooperation Work Plan for 2007 to 2017 specifically states our collective goal of enhancing maritime cooperation on safety of navigation, such as through the implementation of relevant treaties and agreement,” said Del Rosario in the statement.
Del Rosario spoke at a meeting between ASEAN foreign ministers and the foreign ministers of China, Japan, and Korea in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 10.
The foreign ministers were in Cambodia from July 8 to 12 for the 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), where they were expected to tackle a range of issues, particularly countries’ competing maritime claims over the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines and China, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims to areas of the West Philippine Sea.
Tensions over the area have escalated in recent months, with the Philippines and China engaging at a standoff in Scarborough Shoal starting April, and Vietnam protesting Chinese energy projects in the waters.
Members of ASEAN have agreed on a code of conduct to prevent armed clashes over the area, but would still negotiate with China for its approval of the code.
The DFA statement noted that Del Rosario raised the Scarborough Shoal issue during the ASEAN Ministerial meeting on July 9, and that ASEAN would soon start negotiating with China on their proposed elements of the code of conduct.
“For archipelagic states like the Philippines, unimpeded commerce and maritime safety are important given that a quarter of the estimated 1.37 million mariners worldwide are Filipinos,” Del Rosario added in the statement.
In earlier press briefings with reporters at the DFA, Del Rosario expressed his intent to push forward the Philippine elements in the code, saying that it should be “substantive, and should be crafted in a way that disputes were moved forward for settlement.”
Del Rosario said they hoped to finalize the COC by this year. He said basic elements pushed by the Philippines were straightforward, which included dispute settlement mechanisms, and clarifications on disputed and undisputed areas.