The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China on Tuesday resumed negotiations for a Code of Conduct on the South China Sea amid growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific Region.
Manila is the country host for the resumption of the 40th Meeting of the Joint Working Group on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea on 22-24 August.
The ongoing negotiation is the third round of the COC talks among members of the ASEAN and China. The first two were held in Jakarta, in March, and in Vietnam in May.
Four of the ten members of the ASEAN are primary claimants of the South China Sea such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei.
According to Ma. Teresita Daza, spokesperson of the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippines joined the negotiations to prevent future incidents similar to the recent altercation between the Philippines and China in the Ayungin Shoal.
“We are negotiating a Code of Conduct precisely because we would like to prevent incidents such as the last one at the Ayungin Shoal from happening,” Daza told reporters in a WhatsApp message.
“We hope that all participants would come to the negotiating table in good faith and help create a conducive environment for talks,” she added.
The DFA official is referring to the 5 August incident in the Ayungin Shoal, where China used a water cannon and dangerous maneuvers against Philippine vessels en route on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre. The event sparked a word war between the Philippines and China.
Daza said the Philippines “remains committed to the early conclusion of an effective and substantive COC.”
The People’s Republic of China is claiming the vast South China Sea, an important shipping passage for global trade and investments worth $5.3 trillion annually.