THE 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is optimistic that it can complete a working framework for a Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea with Beijing by August, the Foreign Affairs Department said Tuesday.
“There will be another meeting this month and everyone is optimistic that we are going to have this framework in the middle of this year. So there is a good progress. We are hoping by August this year, we can have some positive developments that we can announce publicly,” said the department’s executive director for Asean affairs, Zaldy Patron, in a Palace briefing.
“At least there is some agreement on the items that will be included in the framework. This is very different, whereas before China and Asean member states did not even want to start a discussion on the framework of the Code of Conduct,” he added.
Unlike his predecessor, President Rodrigo Duterte has taken a soft stance towards the Chinese, and has not used Manila’s arbitration victory over Beijing as leverage.
Patron said that it was under Duterte’s chairmanship of Asean that there has been active discussion on the Code of Conduct.
“Under the Philippine leadership, we have seen a lot of movement in the discussion. China has already made announcement that it is also supportive of having a framework of the COC so that is something that we would like to take advantage of. It’s a step forward to having a full and effective COC,” he said.
Patron said there were still “certain elements” that had to be negotiated with China, including guidelines to avoid tension in the South China Sea.
He added that Asean leaders seemed determined to enact the framework of the Code of Conduct for the disputed South China Sea by the end of the year.
“It is to everyone’s interest that we all have an effective Code of Conduct,” Patron said.
“If you have the arbitration in one hand, [and] the COC in the other… then you have legal instruments you can refer to in the future,” he added.
Patron also disputed the claim of critics that the watered down chairman’s statement issued by the Philippines was a lost opportunity.
“We don’t think [that it was a lost opportunity],” Patron said. “The arbitral award is there. It is part of international jurisprudence. It is part of international law. We can invoke it anytime we want.”
“That’s what the President has said that at the right time, he will make reference to it,” he added.
Patron denied that China was able to pressure the Asean into excluding stronger language on the South China Sea dispute.
“As far as we know, the leaders—Asean exercised their independence,” he said. “They should be free from any interference from any countries. We take it to mean that they made their decisions independently. We don’t see any factor coming from any dialogue partner.”
Beijing on Tuesday lauded Manila’s softer stance, as reflected by the chairman’s statement at the end of the Asean summit.
In a news briefing at Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang did not directly answer a question on whether China had exerted pressure on the Asean members.
“Since last year, with the joint efforts of China and Asean countries including the Philippines, temperatures in the South China Sea situation have gone down and things have eased up. I think this accords with the interests of countries in the region,” Geng told a daily news briefing.
“The relevant situation at this Asean summit again fully shows the positive changes in the South China Sea situation and that the joint wish of countries in this region is to seek stability, promote cooperation and seek development, and this should be respected and supported by all sides.”
The Asean dropped references to “land reclamation and militarization” from its chairman’s statement this year at the end of its summit in Manila.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, disputed a Chinese statement that reinforcement of structures in the Kalayaan Island group, including Pag-asa, was illegal, saying that those territories are an integral part of the Philippines under a law defining the country’s archipelagic baselines.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said that Pag-asa Island and the larger Kalayaan islands (Spratlys) have been under the province of Palawan, adding that any activity in them are perfectly legal.
“Any visit of activity we undertake there are part and parcel of our constitutional mandate to ensure the safety, well-being, and livelihood of our citizens living in this municipality,” the DFA official said.
Kalayaan is a sixth-class municipality in the province of Palawan. It is composed of only one barangay, Pag-asa, and has a 1.3-kilometer airstrip that is used both by the military and civilians. Most of the Filipino residents there are fishermen.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia have territorial claims in the area.
All Spratlys claimant countries have troops in the region, except for Brunei.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, meanwhile, said a framework will need to be set up before the Philippines can participate in any naval drill with the Chinese Navy.
Lorenzana was reacting to a comment by Duterte that he was open to war games with the Chinese, possibly in the Sulu Sea.
“There are a lot of things to coordinate, this being the first with the Chinese. This is important because they will be entering our territorial waters. And if their sailors will get on land, there may be a need for a visiting forces agreement to be concurred by the Senate,” the Defense chief said.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff Gen. Eduardo Año said they are also open to the conduct of joint naval patrol exercises with China and with other countries as well.
“We have so much to learn from each other, especially if we focus on HADR [humanitarian assistance and disaster relief], anti-piracy and counter-terrorism scenarios,” Año said.
He added that the Sulu Sea would be a good venue to hone the Navy’s security capabilities. With PNA