On first day of ASEAN summit, Marcos presses leaders for South China Sea code

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May 26, 2025 | 2:17pm

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pressed other ASEAN leaders on Monday, May 26, to speed up negotiations for binding rules in the South China Sea to prevent "miscalculations at sea."

Marcos said at the plenary session of the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur that the 10-nation bloc faces an "urgent need to accelerate the adoption of a legally binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea."

The code would "safeguard maritime rights, promote stability, and prevent miscalculations at sea," the president said in his intervention.

Sandy Cay tensions. Marcos' appeal on the first day of the ASEAN summit comes just days after the latest flare-up of tensions in the West Philippine Sea, particularly in Pag-asa Cay 2 (Sandy Cay). 

On May 21, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel used water cannons and sideswiped a Philippine research vessel collecting sand samples in the area, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. 

RELATED: Taiwan, 7 countries condemn China's water cannon use vs Philippine research vessel

2026 goal. Negotiations for an ASEAN-China South China Sea code of conduct have stalled for years due to conflicting positions on its scope, legal status and how it should be enforced. 

Beijing — which claims the South China Sea in its near-entirety through its nine-dash line — opposes making the code legally binding. It has also proposed banning joint military drills with countries outside Southeast Asia and limiting oil and gas exploration to partnerships within the region, excluding foreign companies. 

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all claim parts of the resource-rich waters, where their fishing boats and coast guard vessels regularly face hostilities from Chinese vessels.   

Last month, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said ASEAN and China are "politically committed" to finalizing the code by 2026. But Manalo acknowledged that several milestone issues still need to be addressed.

Malaysia, this year's chairperson of the ASEAN bloc, is in favor of a swift conclusion to the negotiations for the code of conduct.

Talks for the code of conduct began in 2002 with a non-binding declaration. ASEAN and China agreed in 2018 on a single draft negotiating text.

Geopolitical tensions

In his intervention, Marcos warned that "geopolitical tensions" and other pressures could "disrupt our communities" and "remove our hard-earned progress."

He said that "by working together, strengthening our institutions, and building the resilience and capacities of our people, we can better navigate this increasingly uncertain future."

The president also commended Malaysia's leadership in convening a recent ASEAN economic ministers' meeting that reached consensus to "avoid retaliatory measures" against the United States' imposition of tariffs.

ASEAN's 10 members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

— with reports by Jean Mangaluz