Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said Mr. Aquino issued the call during an intervention at the 26th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Monday.
“President Aquino reaffirmed the Philippines’s position for the Asean to take a common stand and adopt a legally binding Code of Conduct amid China’s aggressive reclamation activities in disputed territories,” Coloma said.
“He [Aquino] said that Asean centrality should now be clearly demonstrated by expeditiously concluding a legally binding Code of Conduct with China that would implement salient provisions of the declaration made in 2012 by China and Asean members with claims to maritime entitlements in the South China Sea.
Mr. Aquino noted that China’s reclamation activities “directly violated” the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South china Sea, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [Unclos].”
China’s ongoing reclamation projects also cause “irreparable loss and damage to the marine environment, threatening the livelihood of people living in coastal communities,” Mr. Aquino added.
Resolving conflicting claims
This year’s Asean chairman, Malaysia, has expressed support for the Philippines’s position to resolve the territorial disputes in the South China Sea in accordance with international law, including the Unclos.
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak made the statement while addressing the opening of the 26th Asean Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, the Philippines News Agency reported on Monday.
“Respect for international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, must be the basis of the rules of engagement and activities in the South China Sea,” Najib said.
The Philippines is pushing for the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea toward the conclusion of a binding Code of Conduct, and for arbitration under Unclos.
“While we continue our engagement and cooperative relationships with countries outside Asean, we need to peacefully manage differences closer to home, including overlapping maritime claims, without increasing tensions,” Najib said.
He said recent developments have raised concerns about the South China Sea and, given the importance of its sea lanes to international trade, it is natural that almost any occurrence there would attract global attention.
“Asean must address the developments in a proactive, but also in a positive and constructive way,” he added.
The Malaysian leader also expressed hope that progress toward the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct would be achieved.
“As chairman, Malaysia hopes that we will achieve progress in our efforts toward the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct,” he said.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, during the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Sunday, called on the 10-member grouping to take immediate steps to stop China’s reclamation activities in the South China Sea.
(With PNA)