The Philippines appeals to its regional neighbors to urge China for a peaceful solution to its maritime conflict

MADRID 10 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, appealed this Thursday to the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to urge China to seek a negotiated solution to the historic maritime conflict that they maintain, but that in recent months have intensified.

“It is regrettable that the general situation in the South China Sea remains tense and unchanged. We continue to be subject to harassment and intimidation,” said the Philippine president at the meeting with ASEAN leaders in Laos, in which he Chinese Premier Li Qiang was present.

Marcos Jr has urged ASEAN to accelerate the development of the code of conduct that governs the relations between the countries of the organization and China, a proposal that, although it was agreed upon in 2002, did not begin to formally start until 2017.

“The parties must be sincerely open to managing differences and reducing tensions,” said Marcos Jr, after the numerous incidents in recent months in the South China Sea, where Beijing maintains disputes not only with the Philippines, but also with Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

“The definition of a concept as basic as ‘self-control’ still does not enjoy consensus,” the Philippine president reproached, according to an official statement, during the summit taking place these days in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

Although China has recently been involved in violent episodes, especially with Philippine vessels in relation to the disputed Escoda sandbank, last week it was Vietnam that denounced a “brutal” attack by the Asian giant against one of its fishing vessels, leaving at least ten injured. .