Marcos arrives in KL for Asean meetings
KUALA LUMPUR—The President arrived here on Saturday for the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which is expected to tackle the South China Sea conflict, the civil war in Myanmar and the spread of cross-border scam networks.
During the three-day summit, which kicks off on Sunday, the regional bloc will sign an upgraded free trade pact with China and resume negotiations on a long-delayed code of conduct of the contested waterway.
US President Donald Trump, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japan’s newly inaugurated Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are among more than a dozen leaders attending the Asean summit and related meetings.
Binding CoC
As the incoming chair of Asean, the Philippines is “optimistic” that Asean members and China will finally adopt a legally binding “conduct of conduct” (CoC) for the South China Sea after more than two decades of discussions.
Kuala Lumpur will turn over the Asean chairmanship to Manila when the summit concludes on Tuesday.
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Angelica Escalona said Manila would work closely with Asean member states in pushing for the early conclusion of the code once it leads the regional bloc.
“As regards to the Code of Conduct, well as the incoming chair, the Philippines will work with ASEAN member-states and China for the conclusion of an effective, substantive and legally binding code of conduct in the South China Sea,” she said on Friday.
The proposed CoC builds on the 2002 Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea and seeks to provide a set of rules to manage tension in the South China Sea, where several states are locked in a maritime dispute.
New member Timor-Leste
Asean will mark a milestone as it will admit Timor-Leste as its 11th member.
The President is expected to attend 14 leaders’ level meetings and three signing ceremonies, according to Escalona.
Mr. Marcos will also witness the signing of the second protocol to amend the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement as well as the Asean-China Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade, which China intends to use to position itself as a more open major economy while the United States continues to impose its punitive tariffs in the region.
A separate leaders’ summit of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership—the world’s largest trade bloc encompassing Asean and five partners: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand—will convene for the first time since 2020.
Its revival comes as regional economies seek to stabilize trade flows at a time when Washington’s tariff measures have rattled markets and tested decades of globalization.
Mr. Marcos, who assigned Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara and Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III as caretakers until his return on Tuesday, is set to fly next to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. —WITH REPORTS FROM AP AND PNA
