BANGKOK — Increasingly frequent clashes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea this year should make Southeast Asian countries wonder about the relevance of a long-delayed code of conduct in the disputed waters, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said Friday.
“We really want to find ways to at least manage or de-escalate the situation,” Manalo said in an interview with Nikkei Asia. “Unfortunately, of course … we've been victims of splashdowns, collisions, collisions, sideslips. We don't want to be in a situation where one day it turns into something else.”