FILE PHOTO of a China Coast Guard vessel fires a water cannon at the BRP Datu Pagbuaya near Thitu Island, in the latest flare-up between Manila and Beijing in the disputed South China Sea. — PCG

THE Philippines and China are expected to conduct joint maritime patrols in the South China Sea (SCS), said Senator Erwin T. Tulfo, who heads the Foreign Relations committee, in a bid to lessen tensions between the two countries.

“By end of March, the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Philippine Coast Guard and Chinese Coast Guard will be back here,” Mr. Tulfo told reporters in mixed English and Filipino, after his meeting with Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro and Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan on Monday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said earlier that it was proposing to draft an MoU between Manila and Beijing’s coast guards to address operational issues and prevent further incidents in the South China Sea.

“Instead of them fighting in the South China Sea, there would be cooperations like patrols, search and rescue, and clean-up operations, that’s what Ambassador Jing mentioned,” he added.

Mr. Tulfo said Manila and Beijing are open to resolve conflict through diplomatic meetings rather than open public discourse, following the “word war” between Chinese Embassy officials and Philippine lawmakers and uniformed personnel.

“(The ambassador) agreed that it would always be like that, just meetings, to advance further better relations between the Philippines and China,” Mr. Tulfo said.

The South China Sea remains one of the region’s most volatile flashpoints as China continues its expansion in the waterway despite a 2016 ruling by a United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal that voided its sweeping claims.

The Philippine government have reported incidents involving Chinese coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including harassment and dangerous maneuvers such as the use of water cannons near features Manila considers part of its exclusive economic zone.

Mr. Tulfo said that the Philippines is seeking to conduct monthly dialogues with China and other claimant states until the approval of the Code of Conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea, seen as another measure to defuse tension.

“They are now rushing the code of conduct, every month starting March there will be a meeting with other countries that are claimants as well as China. Secretary Lazaro said that it will be finished by December,” he added.

The Philippines, as this year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is seeking to conclude discussion on the CoC by the end of the year. The sea code will implement rules for maritime conduct, dispute resolution and conflict prevention in the South China Sea.

The senator said that Beijing remains open to further dialogues with the Philippines and other ASEAN member states. Claimants to portions of the South China Sea include the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Taiwan.

“They are open to signing and they seem interested because they were there at the Code of Conduct meeting. I would assume they also have inputs there because all the parties, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and us, are amenable,” he added.

The CoC, first pledged in 2002, aims to manage disputes in the strategically critical waters, which serve as a corridor for trillions of dollars in annual trade.

The ASEAN and China agreed to craft a binding code of conduct in 2002, however, progress toward a binding framework has been repeatedly delayed by legal, political and strategic differences. — Adrian H. Halili

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