DFA convenes ASEAN-China seminar on cooperation in South China Sea

August 28, 2017

Experts from the Philippines along with those from other ASEAN member-states and China met in Manila starting Monday for a two-day seminar on the full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) on August 28 and 29.

"The seminar seeks to build on what we have achieved so far in our efforts to build trust and confidence among the parties involved in the South China Sea issue," Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement Monday.

"The seminar also seeks to boost regional efforts to ensure peace and stability in the South China Sea, to help prevent maritime accidents, and to preserve and protect the marine environment and promote sustainable fisheries," Cayetano said.

Senior diplomats, policy-makers and maritime cooperation scholars from the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, as well as representatives from think tanks and the academe, will exchange views on how to enhance practical cooperation between ASEAN and China in the South China Sea.

"The seminar highlights the commitment of the Philippines to implement the DOC while we continue with efforts to craft a substantive and effective Code of Conduct," Cayetano said.

"These practical measures are essential in ensuring that the region remains peaceful and stable, and that the interests of coastal states like the Philippines are protected,” he added.

Paragraph 6 of the DOC calls on ASEAN and China to “explore or undertake cooperative activities [including] marine environment protection, marine scientific research, safety of navigation and communication at sea, search and rescue operations and combatting transnational crime [at sea]” pending a comprehensive and durable settlement of the disputes.

This is the second such seminar convened by the DFA. The first seminar, which the DFA organized in 2015, focused discussions on peaceful settlement of disputes and what constitutes “self-restraint” as it applies to activities of claimant states in the South China Sea. DMS