IReview 13/12/23 | THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PHILIPPINES' EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH A ‘SEPARATE CODE OF CONDUCT’ IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

In a speech on November 20, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stated that the Philippines is deploying an initiative to establish a separate “code of conduct” in the South China Sea with Vietnam and Malaysia. This code of conduct is expected to address outstanding issues in the negotiation process of the Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China (COC), while simultaneously promoting freedom of navigation and economic development in the region. However, many opinions suggest that the Philippines’ initiative will not be realized due to the risk of damaging relations between Beijing and the participating countries. Moreover, the lack of China's participation in Manila’s new code of conduct also reduces its effectiveness because, recently, issues between China and countries with sovereignty claims in the South China Sea have been the main source of instability in the region. Instead of accelerating the COC negotiation process between ASEAN and Beijing, Manila’s move could potentially return the efforts made so far back to the starting point.

In the article “South China Sea: Philippines risks its Beijing ties with ‘non-starter’ mini code of conduct plan” published in the South China Morning Post, Dr. Huynh Tam Sang, a lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City, shared some perspectives on this issue. Dr. Huynh Tam Sang assessed that the initiative for a “mini COC” in the South China Sea is very unlikely to succeed. From Vietnam’s perspective, Hanoi would not want to worsen relations with Beijing because the two countries need to cooperate to resolve issues regarding illegal fishing at sea. Instead, he also suggested that establishing mini-multilateral mechanisms in the region would be more practically effective in responding to non-traditional security issues.

Read the full article here.