PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said countries even beyond Asia have the “moral and legal” obligation to help prevent the eruption of conflict in the South China Sea since it could plunge the world in an economic crisis.
Marcos issued the reminder during his intervention at the 17th East Asia Summit last Sunday in Cambodia as he appealed for a peaceful resolution of existing territorial disputes in the said area.
“Let us be guided by the universal principles of peaceful coexistence and friendly cooperation as laid out in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. As High Contracting Parties to the Treaty, we have a moral and legal obligation to work towards finding resolutions and not resort to inciting conflicts. That path leads us only to perdition,” Marcos said during the summit.
The Philippines is among the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) countries with existing conflicting territorial claims with China in the South China Sea.
Asean is currently crafting the long-awaited Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, to be based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and the regional bloc’s Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), to prevent the escalation of the disputes in the area.
Marcos is calling for the early completion of the said COC during the 25th Asean-China Summit.
Any restrictions in the passage of ships in the South China Sea, the President said, will have a significant impact in global trade.
“The trade which passes through the South China Sea is important not only for Asia, but for the entire world. So it is important that no conflict arise in our region,” Marcos told reporters in Filipino in an interview after the EAS.
Aside from the issue of the South China Sea, Marcos also appealed for the peaceful resolution of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which caused international supply chain constraints.
The members of EAS include the 10 Asean countries, along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States.
Image credits: AP/Heng Sinith