by Yang Ke
MANILA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The adoption of a framework for the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea is "definitely a step forward" in the efforts by China and ASEAN countries to ensure peace and stability in the region, a senior Philippine diplomat has said.
Wilfrido Villacorta, former Philippine ambassador and permanent representative to ASEAN, told Xinhua in a interview that the framework, when translated into an actual COC, "would definitely be a joint monumental contribution of ASEAN and China to peace and stability in the region."
China and ASEAN foreign ministers adopted on Sunday the framework of the COC in the South China Sea which was previously agreed during the 14th senior officials' meeting on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), held in Guiyang, capital of China's southwestern Guizhou province, in May.
The framework, which will shape consultations for the COC, envisions the COC to be a "rules-based framework containing a set of norms to guide parties and promote maritime cooperation in the South China Sea," the diplomat said.
He said the adoption of the framework demonstrates the advancement of ASEAN in its 50th year, in terms of its solidarity and commitment to peace, prosperity and stability.
He added that the Philippines, chair of the ASEAN this year, "will be greatly honored and grateful if its passage takes place this year."
Moreover, he said it is "a tribute to China as a leading strategic partner of ASEAN that respects its neighbors and shares its Asian values of reciprocity, solidarity and good neighborliness."
Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter Cayetano said earlier that during the last five years there were confrontations and no stability in the area and that only now there is relative peace and stability.
"If the COC were to be in place and the parties comply with its provisions, there will likely be no major conflicts in the region that will arise amongst ASEAN member states in the next 50 years," the senior diplomat said in the interview.
Villacorta expressed hope that "the parties will surely live up to the expectations of their constituents and the peoples of the world."
In the next 50 years, Villacorta predicted that ASEAN will have an even closer partnership with China.
"The prospects are bright for future ASEAN-China cooperation because the 'Chinese Dream' and the 'ASEAN Dream' complement each other. We share common traditional values, interlocking interests, historical and cultural ties and geographical proximity that bind us," he said.
