“Engagement with China should not mean appeasement nor surrender”
OUR upcoming chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year will take place amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea, where overlapping maritime claims have fueled confrontations between China and several Asean members, including Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
President Marcos Jr. has acknowledged the “enormous responsibility” of leading Asean during this period. He has vowed to implement the Asean Community Vision 2045 with “purpose and resolve.”
His pledge to pursue “mutually beneficial cooperation” with China while asserting our sovereign rights in the South China Sea demonstrates the delicate balancing act the Philippines must perform in the region.
Beyond ceremonial duties, the chairmanship offers a unique opportunity to shape the regional agenda.
President Marcos Jr. has already identified the long-delayed Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea as a top priority. This is a bold move, given that negotiations with China have stalled for years over issues of legal enforceability, geographic scope, and dispute resolution mechanisms.
The country’s dual-track approach—actively engaging China in the diplomatic sphere while openly asserting our maritime rights in our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)—is not new.
It echoes the “friends to all, enemies to none” approach that has long guided Philippine foreign policy, and which the President emphasized in his inaugural address in 2022. But the stakes are higher now.
The 2016 arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines, which invalidated China’s expansive “nine-dash line” claim, remains unenforced. Meanwhile, Chinese maritime militias and coast guard vessels continue to harass Filipino fishermen and resupply missions in the West Philippine Sea.
In this vein, President Marcos’ call for “meaningful outcomes” must be more than rhetorical.
The Philippines must lead Asean in demanding a COC that is legally binding, time-bound, and consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Anything less risks legitimizing China’s gray-zone tactics and undermining Asean’s credibility as a rules-based community.
“The Philippines stands ready to work with Asean and China to translate our commitments into meaningful outcomes through mutually beneficial cooperation,” the President said during the 28th Asean-China Summit.
“It must be clear, however, that this cooperation cannot exist alongside coercion,” he pointed out.
Among the biggest challenges the Philippines will face is forging consensus within Asean itself.
Member-states have divergent interests in the South China Sea.
While Vietnam and Malaysia share Manila’s concerns, others like Cambodia and Laos have historically aligned more closely with Beijing.
This internal division has hampered the regional bloc’s ability to forge a united front.
To overcome this, the Philippines must invest in active coalition-building within Asean.
It can draw on its moral authority as the only country to have secured a legal victory against China’s aggressive maritime claims.
It can also leverage its democratic credentials and growing strategic partnerships with the United States, Japan, and Australia to rally support for a principled stance.
Engagement with China should not mean appeasement nor surrender.
The Philippines must be clear-eyed about the risks of over-reliance on Chinese goodwill.
While economic cooperation, such as joint development of marine resources, can be explored, it must not come at the expense of sovereignty or legal clarity.
The chairmanship also offers a platform to elevate maritime security cooperation within Asean.
Initiatives like coordinated patrols, information-sharing mechanisms, and capacity-building for smaller navies can help deter coercive behavior and build regional resilience.
President Marcos Jr.’s optimism: “At heart, I’m an optimist,” he said, is certainly welcome.
But such optimism must be matched by strategic clarity and political will.
The Philippines has a chance to lead Asean not just in managing tensions, but in redefining the region’s approach to peace, cooperation and international law.
This, we must emphasize, is not merely a diplomatic challenge, but also a test of regional leadership.
If the Philippines can steer Asean toward a credible and enforceable Code of Conduct while maintaining open channels with China in the economic sphere, it will do more than chair a summit, it will also help secure the region’s future. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
