This theme was laid out early on, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr calling in his keynote speech to the dialogue on Friday for efforts to resolve disputes in the South China Sea to be “anchored in international law” – emphasising a landmark 2016 arbitral ruling rejecting China’s claims, which Beijing does not recognise.
The Philippines and China have been embroiled in a series of altercations in the disputed waterway in recent months over their competing territorial claims.
New Zealand’s defence minister Judith Collins referred to “challenges in maritime…