Philippines pitches new code for South China Sea

By Necva Tastan

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Philippines has proposed a new code of conduct for stability and peace in the disputed South China Sea.

Manila's pitch came after President Ferdinand Marcos expressed concern about the prolonged negotiations between Southeast Asian nations and China over the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC), the Philippine News Agency reported.

“We are now in the midst of negotiating our own code of conduct, for example, with Vietnam because we are still waiting for the code of conduct between China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the progress has been rather slow unfortunately,” Marcos said at an event at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii on Monday.

“And so we've taken the initiative to approach those other countries around ASEAN with whom we have existing territorial conflicts,” he added.

Marcos is also seeking support from nations like Vietnam and Malaysia to create a new sea code for maintaining peace in the South China Sea.

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve conflicting island and maritime claims in the region by several sovereign states, including China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The South China Sea Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DoC) is a South China Sea conduct agreement signed by ASEAN and China in November 2002, marking the first time China had accepted a multilateral agreement on the issue.