The regional bloc ASEAN and China should make headway on a protracted code of conduct for the South China Sea by tackling thorny "milestone issues", including its scope and if it can be legally binding,

Foreign secretary Enrique Manalo says Asean’s vulnerability to climate change should elevate the issue on the bloc’s priority list.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) discussed developments in the South China Sea (SCS), Myanmar and the Middle East during a retreat in Langkawi, Malaysia on Sunday.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers are gathering for their first meeting this year under the regional bloc’s new chair, Malaysia, seeking a breakthrough over Myanmar’s drawn-out civil war and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Enhanced maritime cooperation among Asean members could help advance negotiations for a code of conduct in the South China Sea, says Philippine foreign secretary Enrique Manalo. “We have the basic negotiations between the Asean countries and China,

Foreign Ministers from Southeast Asia have started arriving in Langkawi for the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat (AMM), which is set to convene on Saturday (Jan 18). Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan,

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo Enrique Manalo and his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya on January 15 agreed to continue communication with the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump to promote their trilateral relationship.

LANGKAWI, Malaysia -- Claims that Donald Trump and key aides have little interest in Southeast Asia are "speculation", the Philippine Foreign Secretary has said in a bid to dampen anxiety in the region two days ahead of the American president-elect's return to the White House.

ASEAN and China are urged to resolve 'milestone issues' in their South China Sea code of conduct talks, including its scope and legal binding status. The Philippines emphasizes the need for substantive discussions,

Mayors of 12 cities, together with representatives and experts, from China and ASEAN countries gathered in Nanning city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, for the Global Mayors Dialogue from January 15-18.

The newly installed Trump administration has quickly reaffirmed America’s strong support for the Philippines in the face of an increasingly aggressive China in the disputed South China Sea, despite doubts to the contrary voiced by some observers.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers hold a closed-doors retreat in Malaysia on Sunday, as the country hosts its first meeting as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN amid an intensifying civil war in Myanmar and confrontations in the South China Sea.