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South China Sea: can Malaysia as Asean chair deliver breakthrough in code of conduct talks?

Talks resumed in Manila earlier this month in search of a ‘substantive and effective’ framework to manage tensions in the disputed waterway

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Philippine coastguard personnel look on as a China coastguard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea last year. Photo: Reuters
Southeast Asian nations and China have resumed long-stalled talks on a proposed code of conduct in the South China Sea, but observers remain divided on whether Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean will deliver the breakthrough that has eluded negotiators for more than two decades.

From April 9 to 11, technical working group-level discussions were held in Manila, co-chaired by Malaysia and China. The goal: to advance a long-promised set of rules aimed at preventing clashes in one of the world’s most volatile maritime flashpoints.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said negotiations were still at an early stage but stressed the need for a “substantive and effective” framework, noting that how it would be implemented remained a separate but essential challenge.

“We should have at least on paper an effective and substantive code,” he said, adding that further rounds of talks were set for later this year and in 2026 – when the Philippines assumes the Asean chairmanship.
Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo has stressed the need for a “substantive and effective” framework to manage tensions in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP
Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo has stressed the need for a “substantive and effective” framework to manage tensions in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP
The code of conduct, or COC, has been under negotiation since the early 2000s as a way to manage tensions in the South China Sea, which is claimed almost in its entirety by China and contested by several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
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