BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN -- It was Confucius Aquino versus Confucius Li at the ASEAN-China summit, as President Aquino had a mild exchange with Chinese Premier Li Kequiang over territorial disputes in the "sea of many names." The exchange took place in yesterday's 16th ASEAN-China summit, where Li professed his government's support for the formulation of a binding Code of Conduct (COC) on overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea. The COC has been on the table of the ASEAN-China discussions since 2002, but has not taken off due largely to China's objections. In response to Li, President Aquino quoted Chinese philosopher Confucius who said: "The superior man is humble in his speech but superb in his actions." This was a reiteration of his call earlier in the day for ASEAN to match its words with actions on the South China Sea issue. According to officials present at the summit, Li rounded off the discussions also with a quote from Confucius. Despite the exchange, President Aquino is convinced the dialogue with China -- or at least with its premier -- on the South China Sea dispute has taken a positive turn. He said there was no belligerent tone or hardline position conveyed by either side. He also said he had a short exchange of pleasantries with Li while waiting for the start of the summit. The President said this was better than ignoring or avoiding each other. "Nagkaroon kami ng parang dialogue in passing with the Premier, which is a lot better kaysa nag-iiwasan kami. May holding room. All of us are waiting for whoever our dialogue partner is, so pagdating niya kinamayan ko; kinamayan naman ako," he said. "Tapos he said his piece, I said my piece. 'Yung before the dinner, nagkaroon kami ng dialogue na substantial change from what has been publicly stated. Hopefully, ano, para bang it's a little clearer as to what each party means." This was in contrast to what happened between President Aquino and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the APEC Summit in Bali earlier this week. Sources said Aquino and Xi ignored each other a number of times during some close encounters. The Philippines and the rest of ASEAN, however, succeeded in getting a commitment from China to fully implement the existing declaration on the conduct of parties in the South China Sea (DOC) "in all its aspects." In a joint statement after their summit, ASEAN and China also committed to develop "hotline communications in order to respond expeditiously to situations at sea." Meanwhile, the US has echoed the Philippine call to fast-track the crafting of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea. Filling in for US President Barack Obama, State Secretary John Kerry conveyed the US position late Wednesday during the 1st ASEAN-US summit. It was not quite clear what the US' role would be, if any, in the crafting of the COC. But an official present at the talks said "the US is basically a cheerleader here." President Aquino said the US's support was welcome, saying there was nothing wrong with Kerry's suggestion to speed up the COC. "Ang minungkahi ni Secretary Kerry basically is papaspasin natin 'yung proseso na ma—'yung parang to get that code of conduct and the absence of which, syempre, parang adds to the sense of uncertainty which is not a factor that would enhance, 'di ba, stability and prosperity for all parties concerned," he said. "So palagay ko walang mali doon sa mungkahi."

• published: 11 Oct 2013
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