The Philippines moves to quicken negotiations on a long-delayed South China Sea code of conduct, aiming to wrap up talks within the year as it assumes the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro says Manila will press for more frequent meetings between ASEAN and China, shifting working-level discussions to a monthly schedule from the current quarterly pace to build momentum.
Speaking at a forum in Singapore, Lazaro says senior officials will also meet more often under the new timetable, reflecting what she describes as renewed engagement after years of slow progress and repeated deadlocks.
The proposed code, meant to guide behavior in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, has been bogged down by disputes over whether it should be legally binding, how far its geographic scope should extend, and how key concepts like “self-restraint” should be defined.
Several ASEAN members—Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam—assert overlapping claims in the waters, while China maintains sweeping claims that an international tribunal has ruled have no legal basis.
Tensions between Beijing and Manila have intensified in recent years, marked by close-quarter encounters at sea, collisions, and incidents involving water cannons directed at Philippine vessels.
Now chairing the 11-nation bloc, the Philippines says it will “endeavour” to conclude the ASEAN-China code this year, acknowledging both optimism and realism as negotiations resume with fresh proposals on the table.