MANILA, Philippines — Manila voiced concerns on maritime incidents endangering its vessels in the West Philippine Sea during negotiations it hosted last week aimed at making progress on the ASEAN-China South China Sea code of conduct.
The Philippine side directly challenged actions that “posed risks to Philippine vessels and personnel” and “infringed on the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction” during the three-day talks on April 9 to 11.
These talks are part of the Philippines and other ASEAN nations’ renewed attempts to speed up the process of passing the long-awaited code of conduct that aims to prevent dangerous maritime…