ASIATODAY.ID, ISTANBUL – The Philippines has proposed new code of conduct guidelines for stability and peace in the South China Sea protected area.
Manila’s proposal came after President Ferdinand Marcos expressed concern about the prolonged negotiations between Southeast Asian countries and China on the South China Sea Code of Conduct (CoC), according to the Philippine News Agency.
“We are currently negotiating our own code of conduct, for example with Vietnam because we are still waiting for the CoC between China and ASEAN and the progress is unfortunately a bit slow,” said Marcos at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii on Monday, 20 November 2023.
“We took the initiative to approach countries around ASEAN, with whom we have territorial conflicts,” he added.
Marcos is also seeking support from countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia to establish a maritime code of conduct that would maintain 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 countries, such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The South China Sea Declaration of Conduct of the Parties (DoC) is a South China Sea behavioral agreement signed by ASEAN and China in November 2002, marking the first time China accepted a multilateral agreement on this issue. (AT Network)
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