Philippines urges quick resolution to South China Sea’s code of conduct as Asean summit looms: ‘What’s in the way?’
- In March, the first round of discussions under Indonesia’s Asean chairmanship were inconclusive, something which Philippine leader Marcos finds perplexing
- However he is not in favour of a deadline on China-Philippines negotiations, an issue he says has been ‘complicated’ by China’s separate talks with Asean states
“Where are we having a hard time? How can we fix that problem? That’s what these meetings should be for. And I think we’ll get to that point because everybody wants this to work. Everybody wants to have a code of conduct,” Marcos said on Tuesday. “So, what’s getting in the way? Let’s talk about it.”
He added that maritime rows in the resource-rich waters between China and four members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), including the Philippines, would not ease until the code of conduct was in place.
Marcos also said the vexed issue was “complicated” by China’s separate talks to Asean states and revealed that he was not in favour of imposing a deadline on the negotiations between his government and Beijing, which are making headway, The Manila Times reported.
Asean must not be proxy for any side, Indonesia says as China’s Qin Gang visits
In March, the first round of the code of conduct discussions under Indonesia’s Asean chairmanship were inconclusive due to persistent discord among stakeholders.
“Considering that we agree on the concept of Asean centrality when it comes to regional concerns, that will be one of the most important subjects that we will bring up,” he said.
Beijing has long bristled at any external talks on Taiwan, which it views as a breakaway province to be united with the mainland, by force if necessary.
“The impasse is that we continue to ask for a commutation or even a pardon or extradition back to the Philippines. That is constantly there,” he said.
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