China will host a meeting with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in May to discuss the framework for the code of conduct for claimants in the South China Sea dispute. The meeting, to be attended by senior officials, aims to thresh out the possible elements of a binding code of conduct in a bid to defuse tension over the maritime dispute, acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said yesterday. ASEAN member-countries and China signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002 to settle maritime disputes peacefully. It has been 14 years since the declaration was signed yet the parties have not formulated a binding code of conduct.

Romero, A. (2017, March 23). China, Asean to meet on sea code. The Philippine Star, pp. 1, 6.