Analyst: Marcos should push security agenda at ASEAN

THE ASEAN Summit in Jakarta this week should help the Philippines push forward its security agenda in the region, where cooperation with neighboring states and the international community is crucial, according to a Manila-based think tank.

“In the context of China’s new standard map, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit comes at the right time for the Philippines to gather support in rejecting these desperate claims that infringe on ASEAN states’ territories,” Stratbase ADR President Victor Andres C. Manhit said in a Facebook Messenger chat on Tuesday.

A few days before the summit, China revised its standard map that now features a 10-dash line. The Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and India protested the Chinese action, which they said was illegal.

“Malaysia has also called out this new map, so the summit is an opportunity to encourage a more assertive stance in promoting a peaceful resolution based on international law,” Mr. Manhit said.

The Philippines should lead its ASEAN neighbors in pushing for a maritime policy based on the 2016 arbitral ruling that voided China’s claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea, he added.

The Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations have been seeking to finish a proposed code of conduct in the South China Sea.

But Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu earlier told a Palace briefing the summit would be “too short” for ASEAN leaders to finalize the proposed code of conduct.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., who has pursued closer ties with the US and its allies amid China’s increasing assertiveness at sea, is in Indonesia for the ASEAN Summit.

Before leaving the Philippines, he vowed to promote “a rules-based international order, including in the South China Sea.” — KATA