SFA Locsin, Foreign Minister Wang Yi Co-chair ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting

Foreign Affairs Secretary Locsin, ASEAN Foreign Ministers, and Chinese FM exchange views on COVID-19 and South China Sea at the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting. 

PASAY CITY 15 September 2020 - Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chaired the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on 09 September 2020 by videoconference. The Philippines is the Country Coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations from 2018 to 2021.

The Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and China reviewed the progress in the dialogue relations and discussed ways to deepen cooperation across the political-security, economic, and socio-cultural pillars. They also exchanged views on regional issues, including COVID-19 and the situation in the South China Sea.  

ASEAN expressed appreciation for China’s announcement of its 1 Million USD contribution to the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund and the allocation of 5 Million USD to the ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund, to be used towards strengthening joint efforts and projects on addressing public health emergencies. China also reiterated its previous pronouncements to make its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good.

Secretary Locsin reiterated the Philippines’ commitment to push forward negotiations towards an effective and substantive Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea. The Philippines’ top diplomat highlighted the completion of the first reading of the Single Draft COC Negotiating Text (SDNT) and the commencement of the second reading of the SDNT last year.

“As a community of law-abiding nations, we emphasize that disputes should be resolved in a peaceful manner in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS,” he said further.

While noting that the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ensuing restrictions imposed on travel and movement precluded scheduled face-to-face meetings, Secretary Locsin encouraged fellow ASEAN Member States and China to resume discussions.  

“It is imperative to bring everyone back to the negotiating table to demonstrate to the world that we are sincerely committed and determined to arrive at a conclusive result, one way or the other; but we must get down to sincere and serious work,” he said.

ASEAN and China also reaffirmed implementing commitments under the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) to mitigate the adverse economic impact of the pandemic and boost greater economic and trade cooperation. These efforts will support the joint target of two-way trade of 1 Trillion USD and 150 Billion USD in investments by the end of 2020. END