Lorenzana hopes code of conduct can be forged with China in 3 years

December 7, 2018

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana hopes China fulfills its pledge to come up with a code of conduct with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in three years.

"Since it's very encouraging that they (China) are looking (at) three years, hopefully we can do that in three years," Lorenzana said in an ambush interview in a forum in Makati City on Friday.

Lorenzana said the code of conduct has been pending for a long time before Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said he hoped negotiations with ASEAN on a code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea would be completed in three years.

"I hope China fulfills that promise because it's China who actually try to delay this for the past six years," he said.

He said China should also do its part to resolve the sea disputes through dialogues and negotiations.

"We want that to be finish very soon so that we will have a mechanism to manage transactions in the South China Sea," he said.

Lorenzana said having a code of conduct will give assurance that when a country does something in accordance with the code there will be no misunderstanding in the seas.

He added relationships between the two countries will prosper and problems can be resolved in the future.  Ella Dionisio/DMS