by Joseph Pedrajas
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has promised to bring up issues on the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea with Chinese President Xi Jinping if he meets him here.
Ahead of his participation at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits on Wednesday here, Marcos made the pronouncement after saying “it’s impossible” for him to talk to China “without mentioning that.”
“Those kinds of discussions, especially with the West Philippine Sea, I’m hoping to do that with Chinese President… ‘Yun ang magiging isang subject matter na pag-uusapan namin (That’s one of the subject matters we’ll possibly talk about),” he told reporters onboard the presidential plane in an interview after departing Manila before 6 p.m.
It is not yet confirmed if Marcos will get the chance to sit down with Xi, although China is participating in the summits.
The Philippines and China are among the countries that have territorial claims over the contested waters in the South China Sea.
The Philippines is claiming the West Philippine Sea, a part of the South China Sea, by citing the 2016 Arbitral Ruling in The Hague, which turned in favor of the former. But China has rejected it by unilaterally citing its historical nine-dash line.
Aside from Xi, Marcos is also expected to talk about the South China Sea dispute before his fellow leaders from other ASEAN members.
In the same interview, Marcos said countries having claims in the South China Sea must first come up with an agreement in handling their differences as he lamented about the slow progress in the crafting of the code of conduct in the disputed area.
He believed it is only necessary for claimants of the South China Sea—namely the Philippines, China, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam—to “find an area of consensus” as much as it is necessary for them to resolve the issue of competing claims. “But to do that we have to first status quo everything,” he said.
The President said claimants had actually had previous declarations on the South China Sea, which he said “is one of the many suggestions that I’m hoping to bring.”
Currently, claimants in the SCS are making efforts to come up with a Code of Conduct, but developments on that are slow, he added.
“It’s not really moving forward,” the President said.
Recently, the Department of Foreign Affairs bared there was already a breakthrough on the issue by saying “there is already a sort of agreement” among ASEAN countries and China on what to do during certain situations in the disputed waters to avoid escalation of tension.
During his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos asserted the Philippines’ rights over the parts of the South China Sea, particularly the West Philippine Sea, when he said that he would not surrender even an inch of the country’s territory.
