The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The completion of the draft of the framework of the Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea territorial disputes is a way forward in attaining peace and stability in the Asian region, Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana said.
”This is a welcome development. Bilateral and multilateral efforts to address issues of common concerns can be mutually reinforcing for peace, stability and security,” Sta. Romana said in his opening remarks during Friday’s 1st Meeting of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultative (BCM) on the South China Sea.
Sta. Romana lauded the senior officials of China and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for finally endorsing the clean text of the framework to the Asean foreign ministers.
The senior officials decided to wrap up negotiations on the draft COC framework during last Thursday’s 14th Senior Officials’ Meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in Guiyang.
The draft of the framework will be submitted during the China-Asean Foreign Ministers’ Conference to be held in the Philippines in August this year for the foreign ministers’ consideration.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also welcomed the finalization of the draft of the framework, reaffirming the Philippines’ commitment to working towards an effective COC.
“Many, many countries wanted it to be legally binding. But I’m saying let’s start with it being binding, gentlemen’s agreement. We have a community of nations which signed,” former senator, now DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano has told reporters in Manila.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, co-chair of the 14th Senior Officials’ Meeting on the Implementation of the DOC, commended fellow senior officials from Asean for showing the “spirit of mutual respect and cooperation”.
During the meeting, Liu said the parties agreed to continue to advance the full and effective implementation of the DOC in its entirety.
He said the draft of the COC framework was an accumulated outcome of their efforts for the past several years and reflects the basic principles and spirit of the DOC.