DFA flags Chinese activity in Sandy Cay, reminds COC talks ongoing

EQUAL REACTION. Four composite teams from the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard and police Maritime Group are deployed to the Sandy Cay in Pag-asa Island on Sunday (April 27, 2025). The move was in response to photos being circulated by China that its troops have seized one of the sandbars. (Photo by NTF-WPS)

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday made a blanket call on countries to refrain from conducting actions that complicate the situation in the South China Sea while negotiations on a Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea are ongoing.

The statement comes following local reports bearing photos of the China Coast Guard raising a Chinese flag on the Sandy Cay, saying Beijing has enforced “maritime management and exercised sovereign jurisdiction” over the feature.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Philippines-hosted High-Level Conference of Middle Income Countries in Makati City, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the government is monitoring this development.

“Well, of course, we are looking at developments like this because we are very much committed to observing the DOC (Declaration of Conduct) and in fact we’re negotiating a COC,” he said.

“So, we hope countries can at least minimize or refrain from taking actions such as this but we’re closely monitoring it and trying to see exactly what the plans are with respect to that.”

Manalo said the DFA will be in consultation with relevant security agencies and will consider appropriate action.

“Nothing at the moment but certainly it’s a possibility and we’re considering all these options,” he said.

Sandy Cay, also knowns as the Pag-asa Cay 2, is one of the sandbars situated west of Pag-asa Island in the Kalayaan Island Group of the Philippines. China lays claim on the feature, which it calls Tiexian Jiao.

In 2019, the late Philippine ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana said there was a previous consensus between Beijing and Manila to keep the sandbar unoccupied.

In the DOC, signed between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2002, parties agreed to “exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability”.

This includes “refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays and other features and to handle their differences in a constructive manner.”

The DOC is the first political document jointly issued by the two parties pending a binding set of rules in the contested sea lane.

To date, China and ASEAN are targeting to conclude talks on a COC by 2026, but it is not yet clear whether the parties would agree for the code to be legally binding.