Philippines sends delegates to Asean-China forum

BEIJING – A high level Philippine delegation is here today for the meeting between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on the approval of the framework for a Code of Conduct for managing the dispute in the South China Sea.

Ambassador Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana noted that China has shown “flexibility” in dealing with the issue, a major policy shift apparently brought about by President Duterte’s initiative to improve relations with Beijing.

“They have shown flexibility. They’ve actually indicated they are willing, they hope that it can be achieved this year, the framework,” said Sta. Romana, a Beijing-based journalist before his appointment as ambassador.

Aside from the Philippines and China, other countries with conflicting claims in the South China Sea are Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan.

In this year’s ASEAN summit, hosted by the Philippines, leaders of the 10-nation bloc agreed to keep communication lines among claimant countries in the South China Sea open to prevent an escalation of hostilities.

“We want to come out with that framework on the Code of Conduct …and ASEAN and China, I think, we are making progress, so hopefully, they could come up with the framework,” he said.

“So from SOM (Senior Officers Meeting), they endorsed it to the foreign ministry meeting in Manila in August and the foreign ministers will endorse it to the summit level. So hopefully, this year we could have a framework,” Sta. Romana added.

“After that, you have another stage, which will be legally binding,” he said.

Asked about the issue of freedom of navigation, Sta. Romana asserted that ASEAN and China share the same position – in general terms.

He said the only problem was with definition. “If it’s commercial there is less of a problem. But the definition on military, particular on surveillance, and it’s an issue between the US and China,” he said.

“For us, it’s a lesser problem. We’ve had it in joint communiqué and discussions. Both sides agree to maintain freedom of navigation and over flight and all of that. There is a difference in defining it,” Sta. Romana pointed out.

He also explained that the senior officers’ meeting on the framework for a Code of Conduct is separate from the Bilateral Consultative Meeting (BCM) scheduled tomorrow.

Sta. Romana leads the Philippine delegation to the BCM tomorrow in Quiyang City, Guizhou province.