00:00In front of Chinese Premier Li Chang, President Marcos walked to the ASEAN Summit his continuous harassment and intimidation of China in the West Philippine Sea.
00:10According to the Japanese media, the President told the ASEAN leaders not to be fooled by his illegal and dangerous actions of China in the South China Sea.
00:20From Laos, People's Democratic Republic, this is Ivan Mayrina.
00:25Ivan
00:30Emil, President Bongbong Marcos called on his ASEAN leaders and in front of the Chinese government to speed up the creation of the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct
00:40to maintain peace in the South China Sea.
00:48In front of Chinese Premier Li Chang, he was laughed at by China at the ASEAN Summit in Lao PDR.
00:53President Bongbong Marcos called on his ASEAN leaders to speed up the creation of the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct
00:58to maintain peace in the South China Sea.
01:02In front of Chinese Premier Li Chang, he was laughed at by China at the ASEAN Summit in Lao PDR.
01:13According to the President, the Philippines continues to experience harassment and intimidation from China.
01:18This is shown by China's continued neglect of international law.
01:22It is saddening to see that the overall situation in the South China Sea remains tense and does not change.
01:28That is why all parties need to be open to seriously resolve the unresolved issues and reduce tensions.
01:35That is why negotiations for the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct need to be speeded up.
01:40In 1992, the creation of the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct in the South China Sea began, but until now, it is still being discussed.
01:47However, the core elements of the agreement, such as what will be the code of conduct, and whether it will be legally binding, do not matter.
01:55The simple meaning of self-restraint or self-restraint is that there will be no agreement.
02:00At another separate meeting at the ASEAN-Japan Summit, the President said that he will consider the transnational problem
02:06as the aggressive actions in the East and South China Sea that affect the peace and stability of the region
02:12and that it is the duty of the ASEAN to maintain maritime security and territorial integrity.
02:17Some countries have also expressed their concerns about the increasing tensions in the South China Sea,
02:23such as Prime Minister Lawrence Wong of Singapore.
02:25Based on the press release of the Agence France-Presse, he described the issue as live and immediate,
02:30and that there could be a serious incident that could lead to a war.
02:34But it is not surprising that many countries in ASEAN are eager to join the Philippines in this discussion.
02:40China's importance in the ASEAN economy is not insignificant.
02:44China is the largest trading partner of ASEAN, with a total of 500 billion dollars worth of assets each year.
02:50This is also the third largest source of foreign direct investments.
02:54Through the President, economic cooperation should not be separated from political security.
03:01This afternoon, NHK, a Japan-based media outlet,
03:04called on the ASEAN leaders to not be surprised by the illegal and dangerous actions of China in the South China Sea.
03:13The President also said that these actions are out of line,
03:16as ASEAN is trying to face the enemies against its members,
03:20and the silence in the middle of these countries is weakening ASEAN.
03:25NHK's press release is based on a copy of the President's speech.
03:29He did not reveal the content of his speech,
03:31because it is usually not discussed in the leaders' retreat.
03:35We tried to ask the President about that.
03:38It is improper for me to disclose anything that was mentioned in the pub game closed session.
03:51Emil, just a while ago, President Bongbong Marcos and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a bilateral meeting.
03:58The President thanked Canada's continued support for the position of the Philippines,
04:02not only for the statements, but also for the capacity building of the Philippines in the South China Sea.
04:07This is also one of the themes of the President's message at the ASEAN-Australia Summit in front of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
04:15The President thanked Australia for its support for the position of the Philippines,
04:19that UNCLOS should be followed, as well as international law.
04:24Ivan, does China have a say in what the President said in front of Chinese Premier Li Chang?
04:35Yes, Emil, media access to the ASEAN-China Summit is limited, especially when individual leaders are speaking.
04:42But China's position there is not changing.
04:45They claim that the entire South China Sea is their territory,
04:50and that their actions are only to defend their sovereignty.
04:55In 1992, Ivan introduced the idea of building a code of conduct in the South China Sea,
05:01and in 2002, China and ASEAN agreed to build a maritime code.
05:06But the formal process for that only started in 2017,
05:10and now it's 2024, and nothing is being built yet.
05:13Why is the process taking so long?
05:15What is taking so long here, Ivan?
05:21You're right, Emil. We're just new reporters covering ASEAN.
05:25We're already talking about a code of conduct.
05:27But seriously, just like what the President mentioned,
05:30there are some concepts that cannot be agreed upon.
05:33Something as basic as, for example, what does self-restraint mean?
05:37It cannot be agreed upon by countries.
05:39What will be the wording in the code of conduct?
05:42And of course, what will be the scope or scope of the code of conduct?
05:46And most importantly, will it be legally binding?
05:49But Emil, the actions of China regarding this,
05:52they don't want to talk multilaterally.
05:56They want it to be bilateral or one-to-one.
06:00Because of this, they will be able to play their power and advantage in negotiations.
06:06Thank you very much, Ivan Mayrila.
06:19Thank you very much.
06:49Thank you very much.
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