WPS: Hormuz crisis sharpens Philippines' push for South China Sea code

www / West Philippine Sea West Philippine Sea ‘Asean’s gift to the world’ WPS: Hormuz crisis sharpens Philippines’ push for South China Sea code The Straits Times/Asia News Network / 03:27 PM June 24, 2026 Share: ST’s Philippines correspondent Mara Cepeda (left) in an interview with Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro in Manila on June 22. ST PHOTO: BASILIO SEPE MANILA, Philippines – As the Philippines chairs Asean amid geopolitical tensions half a world away, Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro makes a clear case for why finishing the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) matters beyond the disputed waters themselves. “We don’t want to have a situation such as the Strait of Hormuz – (with) those choke points,” Lazaro told The Straits Times in an exclusive interview in Manila on June 22.

“I think the whole world will appreciate it if we can come up with this Code of Conduct. This is Asean’s gift to the world.” Her reference to the Strait of Hormuz highlights a broader concern within Asean: that disruptions far beyond Southeast Asia can quickly threaten the region’s trade and energy security.

Article continues after this advertisement READ: WPS: PH upbeat on progress in South China Sea code of conduct talksFEATURED STORIES WWW LIVE UPDATES: Congress convenes in special session | June 17, 2026 WWW West PH Sea: AFP warns Chinese research in Panatag may have military use WWW AFP says Chinese research activities in Panatag may have military use The remarks underscore both the urgency and difficulty of the task facing the Philippines as Asean chair in 2026. Manila has set an ambitious goal of concluding the long-delayed South China Sea code in 2026 while also grappling with lessons from the recent Middle East energy crisis and Asean’s continuing struggle to address Myanmar’s civil conflict. Asean and China have been working towards a COC, meant to establish rules governing conduct in the South China Sea, for more than two decades.

Four Asean member states – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – have overlapping claims against China in these waters. Completing the COC in 2026 has been a priority of the Philippines since it took over the chairmanship in January. Lazaro has also reiterated several times that the COC must be legally binding, explicitly referencing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The urgency intensified after conflict in the Middle East involving Iran erupted in February and, with it, repeated disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz – pushing oil prices above US$100 a barrel for an extended period and exposing how vulnerable Southeast Asia is to maritime crises it cannot control. Article continues after this advertisement READ: Asean calls for uninterrupted transit in Strait of Hormuz The situation gave Asean leaders fresh impetus to push for greater maritime cooperation in the region to ensure safety and freedom of navigation. Article continues after this advertisement The crisis appears to have injected fresh urgency into negotiations.

“There is also the desire or the aspiration that (the COC) be concluded, and I wouldn’t say that only with Asean, but also with China,” Lazaro told ST. “So that’s where it is right now – to the point that every month, the negotiators meet, and this has not been done in the past.” Yet, even basic definitions are still being contested.

At a forum in Washington earlier in June, Lazaro said the definition of “self-restraint” in the COC still has not been resolved after nearly a decade of talks. Lazaro declined to name the Philippines’ non-negotiables or detail what compromises Manila would accept, citing the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations. But she rejected the notion that Asean and China fundamentally disagree on what the code is meant to achieve.

“I don’t think there’s any fundamental interpretation. It’s really more of the provisions,” Lazaro said. She cited the four core issues that remain unresolved: whether the agreement will be legally binding, its geographic scope, the connection between the COC and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (a non-binding framework agreed between Asean and China), and the terms of reference.

READ: PH hopeful Asean, China to adopt South China Sea code of conduct in 2026 Nonetheless, Lazaro reaffirmed the Philippines’ target to conclude the COC in 2026. Pressed on her confidence that it will be done by December, she said: “I am an optimist; at the same time, a pragmatist.” Asean’s energy stress test The COC push comes as Asean takes stock of its response to the worst energy shock the region has faced in decades.

At the Asean Summit in Cebu in May, leaders renewed calls to ratify the Asean Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA), build a regional fuel stockpile and accelerate the Asean Power Grid project. Analysts remain unconvinced that an APSA ratification would significantly strengthen regional energy resilience, given that fuel sharing under the scheme