The Philippines and China have maintained monthly diplomatic talks throughout 2026 focused on a South China Sea Code of Conduct – a rules-based framework for managing behavior in the disputed waters that has been under negotiation between ASEAN and China since 2002. Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo has publicly stated that Manila is targeting completion of a meaningful Code of Conduct by end of 2026, an ambitious timeline reflecting the Philippine government’s calculation that a binding or operationally significant agreement would constrain Chinese behavior in ways that ad hoc diplomatic protests cannot achieve alone. The monthly talks format – agreed in late 2025 to accelerate progress after years of intermittent negotiation – represents a procedural step forward even as substantive gaps between ASEAN and Chinese positions remain very wide.

The core dispute is whether the resulting agreement will be legally binding and geographically comprehensive. ASEAN members, led by the Philippines and Vietnam, want a legally binding instrument with clear geographic scope covering the entire South China Sea and explicit UNCLOS references. China prefers a non-binding political declaration, wants to exclude already-developed and militarized areas from the agreement’s geographic scope, and has resisted any UNCLOS reference that would implicitly legitimize the 2016 arbitration ruling rejecting its nine-dash line claims. The sanctions against Defense Secretary Teodoro in June 2026 illustrate the paradox at the heart of the Code of Conduct talks: Manila and Beijing are simultaneously conducting structured dialogue toward a conflict management framework and escalating their bilateral confrontation through unilateral coercive actions that the code of conduct process is supposed to eventually constrain.