MANILA – ASEAN and China have reached provisional agreement on about 80 per cent of a long-awaited Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea, although negotiations will continue beyond Manila’s earlier goal of concluding the pact by the end of 2026.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said on November 15 that talks had entered their final phase, but she did not set a new deadline for completion. She said the parties would continue working towards an “effective and substantive” code at the earliest possible time.
The announcement came as ASEAN leaders gathered in Manila for the 49th ASEAN Summit amid continuing tensions over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea. Lazaro said negotiators had provisionally agreed on about 80 per cent of the paragraphs in the draft code, up from 77 per cent reported a day earlier.
Several contentious issues remain unresolved, including whether the code will be legally binding and the geographical area it will cover. The parties have, however, agreed that the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea will provide the foundation for the eventual COC.
Under the provisional understanding, the code will build on the declaration’s principles and introduce more effective provisions to guide conduct in the disputed waters. It is also expected to serve as a platform for voluntary maritime cooperation conducted in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Lazaro stressed that the COC is intended to help manage differences at sea rather than settle territorial and maritime disputes. The parties reaffirmed their commitment to peaceful dispute settlement under international law and to maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight.