Marcos: Onus on China to finish South China Sea code talks 

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday, October 11 that the “onus” of concluding negotiations on a long-awaited code on the South China Sea is on superpower Beijing. 

“I think the onus is now on China to accelerate those talks. ASEAN has been waiting for a long time,” said Marcos in a briefing with reporters after his participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Laos. 

The Code of Conduct (COC) is a legally-binding document that would govern the South China Sea. It has been under negotiation between the bloc and China for over two decades. 

Given the glacial pace at which talks are going, the bloc and superpower in 2023 have aimed to finish talks by 2026 – coincidentally, the year Manila will be chair of ASEAN. 

“Every single day we push for the conclusion of COC because then that will provide the basis that will…. lay down the rules for everyone to follow and it will stabilize the situation. That’s why it is so important,” said Marcos. 

At Vientiane, during the ASEAN-China summit, Marcos urged leaders of the bloc and Chinese Premier Li Qiang to be “be earnestly open to seriously managing differences” and reducing tension.

The Philippines is one of several claimants in the South China Sea, a crucial waterway that China claims in almost its entirety. 

Among claimants in the region, it’s the Philippines that’s been most transparent, under the Marcos administration, about the extend of China’s harassment in its own waters. 

Nikkei, citing a Southeast Asian diplomat, said it was the “first time that President Marcos broke tradition… by talking about maritime issues in this forum.”  Geopolitical issues are rarely taken up during the ASEAN-China summit.

Malacañang has not released a transcript of Marcos’ intervention or remarks during the meeting. 

Following Marcos’ intervention, leaders from Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand also spoke up on their concerns regarding the South China Sea. 

“I have always strived to do, made our position clear, the Philippines’ position clear, on how we see our sovereignty, our territory, our sovereign rights, and how we are – must be allowed to exercise them,” Marcos told reporters. 

“It is important for the Philippines, for example, to be able to explain to Member States and the other leaders who have come to join us the situation as we face it. Because understandably they do not live with this situation day to day. And it is important to make them aware that it is getting better, it’s getting worse, it’s about the same, we are finding ways, and to see, to show that and to… It is always very useful because at some point, there are many offers of help,” he added. 

Marcos declined to divulge which countries from Southeast Asia offered help, but told reporters offers came in the form of possible joint exercises and “continued discussions” of how to keep the South China Sea peaceful. 

The Philippines’ sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone — huge swaths of which China claims — has been affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Award. 

Beijing refuses to recognize the award and insists that it’s the Philippines to blame for tense encounters between the two countries at sea. – Rappler.com