he Philippines, as ASEAN chair, will insist that a long-delayed Code of Conduct with China on the South China Sea explicitly references the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as it works to complete the document by this year, its foreign minister said on Thursday. “The UNCLOS issue is something that we insist on, not only the Philippines, but other ASEAN member states,” Ma. Theresa Lazaro told Reuters in an interview. The idea of a formal code of conduct to ease tensions in the South China Sea was first raised more than two decades ago, but only in 2017 did the parties commit to start the drafting process. However, little substantive progress has been made since then. The issue remains highly sensitive. China’s Southeast Asian neighbours want the code to be grounded in international law, which Beijing has repeatedly been accused of disregarding as it asserts its sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea.

Full report : Philippines will insist South China Sea code is based on international law, foreign minister says.