MANILA, July 22 — The South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) is expected to be finalised at the 49th ASEAN Summit here in November, Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said.
He said the COC, a framework to ensure the South China Sea remains a free, safe and accessible waterway for all, is at a stage where key paragraphs still require the agreement of all party countries.
“We will do our very best, because finalising this is important for all ASEAN countries, particularly the ASEAN littoral states, which each have their own interests in the South China Sea. Once the COC is in place, we will be able to use the ASEAN platform should anything happen in the area.
“The COC will serve as a guiding document for ASEAN countries and for nations that use the South China Sea, covering freedom of navigation, freedom of overflight and other related matters,” he told Bernama here today.
Mohamad said this after co-chairing the ASEAN-China Post-Ministerial Conference with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, in line with Malaysia’s role as the 2024-2027 ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations Country Coordinator.
The conference was held in conjunction with the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings, under the Philippines’ ASEAN chairmanship theme “Navigating Our Future, Together”.
Mohamad said the COC is based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
He said discussions also focused on ways to strengthen trade between ASEAN and China, including through enhancements to the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) 3.0.
“We will upgrade the FTA protocols to further streamline trade between ASEAN and China because the FTA we signed previously has been in place for a long time, and many new developments have emerged since then, especially in technology and new forms of trade,” he said.
Mohamad added that the meeting also discussed how China could play a role in helping ASEAN address the situation in Myanmar.
“We do not want excessive external intervention. ASEAN has its own way of doing things, so any assistance aimed at facilitating our efforts to manage the situation in Myanmar must be channelled through the ASEAN platform. That is what we want,” he said.
According to Mohamad, ASEAN also requested that China continue supporting the regional bloc in AI technology development and other related areas.
