Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro stated that negotiations between ASEAN and Beijing for a South China Sea Code of Conduct are 80 percent complete, but diplomats do not expect a final pact at the ASEAN summit in Manila

Conflicts between states over who controls or owns land and borders.

The overlapping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea, principally between China and Southeast Asian states including the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, encompassing disputed islands, reefs and shoals, and the naval, coastguard and diplomatic confrontations arising from them.