VIENTIANE: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos challenged Chinese Premier Li Qiang over recent clashes in the South China Sea at regional summit talks on Thursday as fears grow that conflict could erupt in the disputed waterway.

Li met the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at their gathering in Laos after a day of discussions dominated by the Myanmar civil war.

There has been a spate of violent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in recent months in waters around disputed reefs and islands in the South China Sea. Marcos raised the issue in the meeting with Li, arguing that “you cannot separate economic cooperation from political security”, a Southeast Asian diplomat who attended the meeting told reporters.

The Li summit was largely focused on trade and came the same day he met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said Beijing had agreed to lift sanctions on the lucrative lobster industry.

However, Marcos told the meeting that Asean and China cannot pretend that all is well on the economic front when there are tensions on the political front, the Southeast Asian diplomat said.

Marcos also said both sides should hasten talks on a code of conduct in the sea.

Asean leaders repeated on Wednesday longstanding calls for restraint and respect for international law in the South China Sea, according to a draft summit chairman’s statement.

The growing frequency and intensity of clashes in the disputed waterway are fuelling fears that the situation could escalate. “The South China Sea is a live and immediate issue, with real risks of an accident spiralling into conflict,” Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told fellow leaders in Wednesday’s summit.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2024