China and ASEAN make progress on South China Sea pact but can't finish
talks this year
[November 12, 2026] By
JIM GOMEZ
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — China and Southeast Asian countries have made
progress on a South China Sea pact but won't be able to conclude decades
of consultations and negotiations this year as agreed, three regional
diplomats said Wednesday.
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began negotiating
and holding consultations on the so-called “code of conduct” around 2005
to prevent occasional confrontations in the disputed waters from turning
into a major conflict that could threaten Asia’s economies. The accord
mainly calls for self-restraint and discourages aggressive acts that
could spark clashes in the waterway that is a key global trade route.
After years of closed-door negotiations, which at times were delayed due
to tense clashes in the contested waters, China and ASEAN agreed in 2023
to speed up the negotiations and conclude the talks by this year.
Three senior Southeast Asian diplomats with direct knowledge of the
negotiations told The Associated Press that after the final round of
this year's talks last month, China and the ASEAN have provisionally
agreed on about 80% of all the paragraphs that will be included in the
agreement.
The last major sticking points are the geographic scope to be covered by
the agreement, the definition of sensitive terms and whether the accord
should be legally binding or not, according to the three diplomats. They
spoke on condition of anonymity and without elaborating because they
were not authorized to discuss the issues in public.
Negotiations will have to continue next year, when ASEAN's leadership
rotates to Singapore. The Philippines, which led the bloc this year,
initiated more meetings, at least once a month, which effectively
provided more time for negotiators to try to resolve issues, the
diplomats said.
China and Malaysia, which currently oversees ASEAN's overall relations
with Beijing, jointly led at least 10 major rounds of negotiations this
year.
The status of the negotiations on the proposed agreement, as well as
continuing incidents in the South China Sea, will be high in the agenda
when ASEAN leaders hold an annual summit in Manila starting this
weekend. They will engage with leaders of Asian and Western nations,
including the United States and China, after their meeting.
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Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 is hit by Chinese coast
guard water canon blast as it tried to enter the Second Thomas
Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, in the disputed South China
Sea, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
 China and four of ASEAN’s member
states — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — along with
Taiwan have been locked in decades-long territorial standoffs in the
busy waterway, which is also believed to be sitting atop undersea
deposits of oil and gas.
Confrontations have escalated particularly between Chinese and
Philippine coast guard and naval forces in disputed shoals in recent
years. A 1988 clash with Chinese forces over a disputed reef killed
dozens of Vietnamese military personnel in some of the deadliest
fighting known so far in the South China Sea.
Julio Amador III, a Manila-based geopolitical analyst, said the
proposed code of conduct may not be able to totally deter aggression
in the disputed waters, but if it’s combined with other actions,
including foreign diplomacy and a strengthened military capability,
it can make would-be aggressors think twice.
“Restraining great powers takes a lot of effort,” Amador said in
reference to China. “We cannot be a one-trick pony as a country. You
need to have all the tools, whether it’s a code of conduct, whether
you bring a case against China or whether you increase your military
spending.”
The contested territory has long been feared as an Asian flashpoint
and has become a sensitive front in the U.S.-China rivalry in the
region.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the
Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces come
under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. China,
however, has warned the U.S. to stay away from what it calls a
purely Asian dispute.
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