MANILA: Negotiations for a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea are now 70 per cent complete, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported, quoting the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday.
Foreign Affairs Spokesman for Asean Affairs Dax Imperial did not provide further details but said “there are issues that need to be clarified” and “certain elements that need to be refined”.
There is no definite date for the next round of negotiations, but he said the COC is one of the subjects in the upcoming Asean ministerial meetings on Nov 14 and the 49th Asean Leaders’ Summit.
“I am unable to definitively say when it will be concluded or whether it will be finalised within the year or not. But what I can say is all are committed to continue with discussions even at this time,” he said.
“At the moment, we’re seeing a 70 per cent completion of the negotiations, so we are at that stage at the moment. Looking at the 30 per cent, that would be up to our negotiators on how they will be able to complete that,” he added.
Imperial pointed out that while the Marcos administration is pushing for its conclusion by year-end, its priority is to ensure the Philippines’ position and the “elements” it wants included in the COC are there.
“From the Philippines’ side, what we want to ensure is that the COC will guide the behaviour of all parties in the South China Sea. We are also pushing for the rights of third parties to be respected even if they’re not part of the negotiations.
“We want to make sure that those elements will matter when the COC negotiation is completed,” he added.
The four milestone issues in the talks cover the connection between the COC and the non-binding Declaration of Conduct (DOC) in the South China Sea; whether the final document is legally binding or not; the COC’s geographical scope; and the definition of terms, such as self-restraint.
The proposed document has been in the works for years and, once adopted, is expected to provide a set of rules to help manage tensions in the disputed South China Sea. — BERNAMA-PNA