Chinese Coast Guard vessel (L) blocks the ML Kalayaan chartered supply boat (R) during a mission to deliver provisions at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on November 10, 2023.
Speaking in Hawaii at a livestreamed event, Marcos said escalating tension in the South China Sea required the Philippines to partner with allies and neighbors to maintain peace in the busy waterway, with the situation now "more dire".
The embassies of China, Malaysia and Vietnam in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a possible code.
ON-OFF CONFRONTATIONSTalks on components of the code have yet to start, with concerns about how far China, which claims ownership of most of the South China Sea, is committed to a binding set of rules that ASEAN nations want to align with existing international law.
China has turned submerged reefs into military installations equipped with radar, runways and missile systems, some inside the Philippines' EEZ.
Persons:
Shoal, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Marcos, Xi Jinping
Organizations:
Guard, ROSA, Getty, South China, ASEAN, Economic Cooperation, PLA, People's Liberation Army Navy
Locations:
South, AFP, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, United States, Hawaii, ASEAN, Manila, Asia, San Francisco, South China, Brunei, Indonesia, Beijing, Philippine