The Philippines has criticized a crash involving two Chinese ships in the disputed South China Sea as “dangerous maneuvers” and “unlawful interference.” The U.S. called it a "reckless action."
00:00President Marcos Jr. says a South China Sea Code of Conduct could help prevent escalation in the region.
00:07Could you walk us through why this Code of Conduct matters?
00:10The Code of Conduct does not intend to address the root cause of the dispute in the South China Sea,
00:19which is, of course, as shown by the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling on the South China Sea,
00:28it is Chinese maritime expansion.
00:31The Code of Conduct is silent about this matter.
00:34The Code of Conduct simply aims to manage the dispute by fostering a regime of confidence building
00:42so that the claimant states would develop trust with each other and, of course, would not consider the use of force.
00:49How do you expect ASEAN members to line up on a binding Code of Conduct?
00:55And where do you see common grounds and sticking points?
00:59So even within the four claimant states, there is a division in terms of what would be the geographic scope of the Code of Conduct.
01:07Then again, another bone of contention among the ASEAN member states,
01:11some ASEAN member states would simply see the Code of Conduct as a sort of a simple political document that would manage the dispute.
01:20Of course, in the case of the Philippines and, to a certain degree, Vietnam, both the Philippines and Vietnam are, of course, advancing the position
01:29that a Code of Conduct should be based on international law, specifically, of course, the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea
01:37and even the July 12, 2016, Arbital Tribunal ruling.
01:43So even among the ASEAN member states, there are, of course, issues regarding what would be the nature of the Code of Conduct.
01:50How effective do you think the Philippines has been in countering Chinese grey zone tactics in the region?
01:57China, of course, has basically all the ASEAN in its sleeves.
02:02It has, of course, the largest navy in the world.
02:04It has, of course, the largest coast guard in the world.
02:08It has basically militarized the features, the land features in the South China Sea.
02:12So it's not simply a matter of, you know, Philippines being effective.
02:17What President Marcos said, whether, despite the fact that all the odds are against us,
02:22we simply have no choice but to stand on our ground.
02:25Because if we are simply overwhelmed by China, how will other countries look at how we have to deal with Chinese coercive action
02:34and Chinese expansion, not only the South China Sea, but also against Taiwan?
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