President Rodrigo Duterte urged all the regional and global leaders to maintain a peaceful environment by showing “self-restraint” while on his negotiation in resolving the territorial dispute on the South China Sea.
President Duterte on 35th ASEAN Summit
“ASEAN must therefore remain united… And we must use all the influence that we have. Individually and collectively, to persuade to exercise self-restraint and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation” the President said during.
President raised this during the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit Pienary in Thailand on Saturday. He even involved the South China Sea issue and reaffirmed the Philippine’s stand to settle the matter according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
He even said that, countries must guarantee negotiations can proceed smoothly.
“As ASEAN-China Country Coordinator, the Philippines will do its ultimate part to conclude dialogs on a Code of Conduct as soon as possible”, the President said.
However, the country is still currently at work on a proposed code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea that has been pending for more than two decades. The Philippines targets to complete the code within Duterte’s term which expires in 2022.
Duterte even added to counseled ASEAN no to “choose sides” as China lingers to rise as a majot global power against the dominant United States. HE maintained that the Philippines adopted an “independent foreign policy” to underscore this.
Even the issue in disputed waters was carried to public’s eye, wherein Filipino manned ship asked by a Chinese “warship” to change in Scarborough Shoal. But, the Defense department has fleece off concerns regarding this that there will be no dissent against China since there was no damage done by the ship and its members.
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