By Brian Campued
Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reaffirmed its shared commitment to maintain and promote peace, security, stability, and prosperity in the region through the peaceful resolution of maritime disputes.
This, as Southeast Asian leaders adopted the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Maritime Cooperation during the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu amid tensions in the South China Sea and its impact on maritime security, trade routes, and regional stability.
The document seeks to reaffirm ASEAN’s collective commitment to strengthen maritime cooperation and highlights the multi-dimensional nature of maritime issues.
The accord likewise backed the inclusion of the ASEAN Coast Guard Forum as an ASEAN Sectoral Body and the proposed establishment of an ASEAN Maritime Centre in the Philippines.
In a press briefing after the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu Friday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. explained that the proposed center to strengthen coordination on maritime concerns across Southeast Asia, particularly ensuring freedom of navigation and maritime safety in the South China Sea.
“What we are looking for, or what is the ultimate reason for having this Maritime Centre is not to confront or not to somehow push back on any single force or any single country,” he said.
Marcos Jr. emphasized that potential conflict in the South China Sea could also severely disrupt regional and global trade like what the Middle East tensions caused, as a large percentage of global trade passes through the vital maritime route.
However, the President clarified that ASEAN member states still need to iron out the framework for the proposed center, taking into account the existing maritime efforts being implemented by other countries.
“So now the job before us is to put together the framework for what this Maritime Centre is going to look like, who will be involved and what their involvement will be, who will fund it, where will it be, what is it supposed to do in the first place,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ASEAN leaders’ declaration also called for the conclusion of an “effective and substantive” Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
As a legally binding COC has yet to be finalized, President Marcos Jr. maintained that he is still “aspiring” for its adoption during the Philippines’ chairship of ASEAN this year, as the said accord could open potential areas for economic cooperation between ASEAN and China.
“We cannot institutionalize any of those things until the Code of Conduct is finalized. The Code of Conduct between ASEAN and the People’s Republic (of China),” he said.
“Again, that is one of our aspirations as Chair of ASEAN for 2026, that we find at the end of the year that we actually have a Code of Conduct.”
-jpv
