• Seeks early conclusion of Code of Conduct on SCS
• Says ‘regrettable’ WPS remained ‘tense, unchanged’
• Urges ASEAN to fight illegal acts of external powers
President Marcos challenged Chinese Premier Li Qiang over recent clashes in the West Philippine Sea at regional summit talks in Laos on Thursday as fears grew that conflict could erupt in the disputed waterway.
“You cannot separate economic cooperation from political security,” Mr. Marcos said during the ASEAN-China meeting attended by Li.
The Li summit was largely focused on trade, but Mr. Marcos told his fellow leaders that ASEAN and China cannot pretend that all is well on the economic front when there are tensions on the political front, a Southeast Asian diplomat said.
Mr. Marcos also said that both sides should hasten talks on a code of conduct in the South China Sea.
“Parties must be earnestly open to seriously managing the differences and to reduce tensions. In our view, there should be more urgency in the pace of the negotiations of the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct,” he said.
He also called on his fellow ASEAN leaders to adopt measures that could stop China’s aggressive actions and harassment, noting it was “regrettable” that the overall situation in the WPS “remains tense and unchanged.”
“We continue to be subjected to harassment and intimidation. Such behavior is not unnoticed by our respective publics and the international community as well. That they will require a concerted and urgent effort to adopt measures to prevent their recurrence,” the President said in his intervention during the 27th ASEAN-China Summit.
During the ASEAN Leaders Retreat on Wednesday, the Philippine leader, without mentioning any country, said the regional bloc must “not to turn a blind eye to the aggressive, coercive, and illegal actions of an external power against an ASEAN member state.”
“Such actions undermines their claims of genuine adherence to our core values…They run counter to one of ASEAN’s purposes: to unite the region as a bulwark against external threats and conflicts, and ensure that each ASEAN Member State can lead its national existence free from interference, subversion, and coercion,” he said.
“Silence in the face of these violations diminishes ASEAN…We must not ignore the actions of those which seek to divide us and use ASEAN for their own ends. We should firmly reject the actions of external parties which violate international law, disregard international norms, and distort and undermine the principles upon which this organization is founded,” Mr. Marcos added.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, for his part, backed Mr. Marcos’ call for the swift conclusion of negotiations on the ASEAN-China COC.
“The swift finalization of the Code of Conduct is essential in the pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the disputes in the South China Sea, managing tensions, and preventing future conflicts,” Romualdez said.
“The House of Representatives stands solidly behind President Marcos in his steadfast efforts to secure a common ground for all stakeholders towards greater cooperation and security in the South China Sea,” he added.
Recent months have seen a spate of violent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in waters within Manila’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the WPS.
On Wednesday, ASEAN leaders repeated longstanding calls for restraint and respect for international law in the South China Sea, according to a draft summit chairman’s statement seen by the media.
“The South China Sea is a live and immediate issue, with real risks of an accident spiralling into conflict,” Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said.
Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia, accused China of taking “escalatory and irresponsible steps designed to coerce and pressure many in the South China Sea.”
Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, a waterway of immense strategic importance through which trillions of dollars in trade transits every year.
But several ASEAN members – the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei – also have competing claims to various small islands and reefs.
China has for years sought to expand its presence in contested areas of the South China Sea, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the waterway has no legal basis.
It has built artificial islands armed with missile systems and runways for fighter jets, and deployed vessels that the Philippines says harass its ships and block its fishers. With AFP
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