FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. yesterday admitted that negotiations to forge a Code of Conduct (COC) among claimant countries in the South China Sea to ease tension and prevent the dispute from spiraling into a military conflict “went nowhere.”
Speaking before the Asean-G7 Foreign and Development Ministers Meeting in Liverpool, United Kingdom, Locsin said recent incidents and the heightened tension in the South China Sea remain a “serious concern” as he cited the recent filing of a diplomatic protest by Manila over Chinese incursion in its exclusive economic zone.
Manila recently protested the “water cannoning” by two Chinese Coast Guard vessels of three Philippine boats out to bring supplies to a small contingent of soldiers manning the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.
He also cited Beijing’s application of its Coast Guard Law beyond the limits of its maritime entitlements under the 1983 Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).
“These worrying developments underscore the urgency and importance of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. The Philippines, in its role as then Country Coordinator for Asean-China Dialogue Relations, is proud to have helped lead the process and build consensus,” Locsin told the gathering.
“But negotiations for the Code of Conduct, even in our watch, went nowhere. I opposed the exclusion of any outside power from the South China Sea. That would create a semi-legal sphere of influence repugnant to the comity of all nations,” he added.
A legally binding COC is expected to ease tension and lessen the chance for military conflict in the disputed waters while enhancing confidence building measures among the claimant countries.
