ASEAN urged on South China Sea

A Philippine Daily Mirror commentary published April 18 said turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz should push the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to press harder for a binding South China Sea code. (philippinedailymirror.com) The piece, written by Ambassador B. Romualdez, said recent Hormuz tensions showed how quickly a chokepoint can disrupt trade and argued the South China Sea carries similar risks for Southeast Asia and the wider economy. (philippinedailymirror.com) That argument lands as ASEAN and China are still trying to turn years of talks into a Code of Conduct for the disputed sea. ASEAN’s own secretariat said senior officials met in Kuching on August 14, 2025 to review the 2002 Declaration on Conduct and move negotiations toward an “early conclusion.” (asean.org) China’s foreign ministry said another round followed in Cebu on January 30, 2026, where ASEAN and Chinese officials discussed advancing the Code of Conduct and managing the South China Sea situation. (fmprc.gov.cn) ASEAN foreign ministers and China agreed in 2023 on guidelines to speed up negotiations, and Philippine officials said in 2025 that all sides were aiming to finish the code by 2026. Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the parties were “politically committed” to that timeline. (straitstimes.com) (gmanetwork.com) (abs-cbn.com) The push for binding rules comes after repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels around Second Thomas Shoal and other contested features. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told ASEAN leaders in June 2025 that the bloc should accelerate a “legally binding” code as tensions rose. (pna.gov.ph) (inquirer.net) New incidents are still surfacing. CNN reported on April 13, 2026 that Philippine security officials said they found cyanide on Chinese boats operating near a disputed atoll, an accusation tied to the same stretch of sea where ship collisions, water-cannon clashes and resupply standoffs have already strained diplomacy. (cnn.com) The Hormuz comparison also reflects a broader ASEAN concern about shipping lanes. BusinessMirror reported on April 13 that ASEAN had called for safe and unimpeded transit in the Strait of Hormuz while welcoming a ceasefire linked to the latest US-Iran crisis. (businessmirror.com.ph) China has long said disputes should be handled through dialogue and existing regional mechanisms, while several Southeast Asian states have pushed for rules that are explicit, enforceable and consistent with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The commentary’s core demand was that ASEAN stop treating the Code of Conduct as open-ended diplomacy and finish it as a binding set of rules. (asean.org) (fmprc.gov.cn) (philippinedailymirror.com)