Manila seeks completion of South China Sea code

The Philippines is hoping a code of conduct for the South China Sea can be completed when it is chair of the Asean bloc next year, with a consensus emerging between Southeast Asia and China, its foreign secretary said yesterday.

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Theresa Lazaro said the code being negotiated between China and the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations should be legally binding.

Asean and China pledged in 2002 to create a code of conduct, but it took 15 years to start discussions, and progress until now has been slow.