Australian Ambassador to Manila Hae Kyong Yu reminded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ensure that a more binding Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea will also protect the rights of non-ASEAN members like Australia in using the critical waterways.

This, she said after the Department of Foreign Affairs-Foreign Service Institute’s (DFA-FSI) Ambassadors’ Lecture Series on Thursday, May 29, has always been the position that Australia holds in terms of supporting the negotiations and the finalization of a COC, which is aimed at coming up with a set of rules and principles to resolve the South China Sea disputes peacefully and ensure the stability of the region.

“Well, of course, the Code of Conduct negotiation is amongst the ASEAN members with China, so Australia is not a member and is not part of the negotiations,” she told some members of the media.

“But once again, our position on that has always been clear, that whatever is achieved through the Code of Conduct, it has to ensure that it protects all, not just the members, but all who use those waterways, including non-participants like Australia,” she added.

Earlier this week, President Marcos called on ASEAN leaders to accelerate the adoption of the COC amid rising tensions in the region owing to China’s massive territorial and maritime claims of resource-rich waters.

Marcos attended the 46th ASEAN Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with other ASEAN leaders.

Yu maintained that “Australia's position on the South China Sea has always been very, very constant.”

“It is really important that we all protect the freedom of navigation…Australia is a country that depends on exports for economic growth and quite a big portion of the exports are through those ways,” she explained.

“So, I think it goes really without saying that it's really important that we protect the freedom and we ensure that whatever is done is in accordance with that,” the envoy added.

Negotiations on the finalization of the COC have been going on since 2002, which led to the 2002 Declaration on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (DOC), a non-binding agreement aimed at promoting a peaceful resolution to the disputes in the region.

Yu said that ASEAN member-states are aware of Australia’s position and concern about the possibility of exclusion of non-ASEAN countries from the protection that COC would provide.

“I think it's all known amongst everyone involved, and the Code of Conduct negotiation, you know we hope the whole thing goes well,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, the ambassador assured that Australia will continue to support the Philippines’ development and progress even after it successfully graduates as an upper-middle income country by 2026 or 2027, which meant it won’t be eligible anymore for Australia’s foreign development aid.

Yu explained while there are “complications,” Australia “provides a lot of these assistance” to upper-middle income nations.

“So, you know, I can't really talk about hypotheticals right now, but I'm sure there will be ways that we can actually continue to work together so that Australia's support for the Philippines economic and social development continues,” she said.