Formal talks on a code of conduct (COC) to manage tensions in the South China Sea would likely take place „sometime next year“, Philippine foreign ministry spokesman Robespierre Bolivar told a news briefing ahead of the Asean summit beginning tomorrow..
Formal talks on a code of conduct (COC) to manage tensions in the South China Sea would likely take place „sometime next year“, Philippine foreign ministry spokesman Robespierre Bolivar told a news briefing ahead of the Asean summit beginning tomorrow.
He said on Friday that the Philippines expected leaders to announce the start of negotiations on the COC.
Finalising the COC has become urgent following a series of skirmishes between China and its smaller South-east Asian neighbours with competing claims to the waters, like the Philippines and Vietnam.
Other claimants are Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
US President Donald Trump is expected to weigh in on the issue when he meets his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte tomorrow.
Mr Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque told a news briefing on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Danang, Vietnam, yesterday that it was „safe to assume“ that the discussion on (the South China Sea) will take place because Mr Trump has said that the interest of the United States is to maintain freedom of navigation in crucial waterways.
