There is no end in sight to the South China Sea dispute as the people’s “attachments” to their ideas are “too strong” to weaken with time, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Wednesday. “All the conflicting claims in the South China Sea will not be resolved,” Locsin said in a speech at the celebration of the 54th National Day of Singapore. He said it was a vision of Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan, “which I share with as much optimism.” Balakrishnan earlier said a resolution of the South China Sea dispute would not be easy, even as talks for a code of conduct are under way.

Lee-Brago, P., Ong, G., Ramirez, R., & Felipe, C. S. (2019, August 9). All conflicting claims in SCS won’t be resolved — Locsin. The Philippine Star, p. 6.