ASEAN, China Step Up Talks To Conclude COC
From Linda Khoo Hui Li
CEBU CITY (Philippines), Jan 29 (Bernama) -- ASEAN and China are stepping up efforts to conclude the long-running Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, including plans for more frequent talks as a 2026 deadline looms.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro said ASEAN aims to intensify discussions through the COC technical working group to accelerate progress in the negotiations.
As ASEAN Chair, she said the Philippines has proposed that ASEAN and China hold monthly face-to-face meetings of the technical working group, compared with the current practice of four to five meetings a year.
“That has been a commitment, and the proposal has been accepted by ASEAN member states.
“We are in the process of conveying this to China. I don’t see any difficulties with that,” she told a media conference after the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) Retreat here on Thursday.
The AMM Retreat marks the first major meeting under the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) pillar during the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairmanship in 2026, held under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together”.
ASEAN and China are holding discussions here on the COC, marking the first round of talks for the year under the Philippines’ chairmanship.
In a press statement issued by the Chair of the Retreat, Lazaro said ASEAN welcomed the positive momentum and progress in the ongoing COC negotiations.
“We will endeavour to conclude the negotiations for an effective and substantive COC that is in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS, within this year,” she said.
ASEAN and China have been negotiating the COC for years but progress has been slow due to a slew of contentious issues.
Lazaro said both sides remain committed to concluding the document, even as difficult sticking points persist.
“We’ve been talking about this (COC) for the past 17 years, and it’s something I always say - ASEAN, as well as China, is heavily invested in this document,” she said.
Lazaro said ASEAN member states are now “doubly, triply working hard to make sure there’s a confluence or consensus” on the COC.
Last week, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said COC negotiations have made significant progress, with nearly 70 per cent of the content agreed upon, but careful talks were still needed to ensure national sovereignty was not compromised.
Mohamad said overlapping claims needed to be resolved through bilateral or multilateral negotiations, while the COC serves to establish behavioural principles and confidence-building measures to prevent tensions in the area.
-- BERNAMA
