Philippines Wants China Out of Talks
The rift between Cambodia and the Philippines over the role of China in addressing the South China Sea issue continued to widen yesterday, with the Philippines’ president telling his counterparts during an Asean Summit meeting that China should be left out of discussions on a legally binding document for claimant states. “After the Code of Conduct [COC] has been finalized by Asean, then Asean member states will meet with China,” President Benigno Aquino said at the meeting, according to a statement released by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, which urged Asean states to reach an agreement among themselves before involving China. Cambodia and the Philippines have been at loggerheads over what role China should play in the drafting of a long-awaited COC to govern the resolution of conflicts in the highly disputed marginal sea. …
