World leaders to attend ASEAN summit in Manila, where South China Sea code is high on agenda

MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asian and other world leaders meet in Manila from Sunday, November 15, for the final summit of the Philippines' year as ASEAN chair, with United States President Donald Trump due to attend his country’s “special” meet with the bloc. 

Trump will attend the ASEAN-US Special Summit on November 17, the last event of the three-day meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Wednesday, November 11. 

Trump, who last visited the Philippines in 2017 for the ASEAN summit in Manila during his first term, is scheduled to travel to China afterward for the APEC Summit in Shenzhen.

One of the most anticipated efforts during the Philippines’ term as ASEAN chair was its campaign to conclude the long-stalled negotiations for the South China Sea Code of Conduct. 

The Palace has been mum about whether the code would be concluded before the end of 2026, the deadline that ASEAN’s foreign ministers previously set themselves.

If the final terms of the document are not ironed out by then, negotiations will have to continue next year, when Singapore takes over ASEAN's leadership.

ASEAN and China first pledged to work toward a code in a non-binding declaration signed in 2002. The code is meant to stop incidents at sea, such as repeated standoffs between Chinese and Philippine vessels, from turning into armed conflict. 

But observers say Beijing has repeatedly blocked proposals to make the COC legally binding and enforceable as they prefer a weaker framework that carries no penalties for violations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not expected in Manila. The DFA has said Premier Li Qiang has "customarily led the Chinese delegation to Asean-related summits in recent years," but it had not received official confirmation of his attendance as of last week.

Myanmar will be represented by the director-general of its foreign ministry's ASEAN affairs department. 

ASEAN has kept Myanmar's leaders out of its summits since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in 2021. 

The junta later held a tightly restricted election that made military chief Min Aung Hlaing a civilian president. ASEAN however has withheld recognition of that election. 

ASEAN has postponed Myanmar's turn to chair the bloc. That turn would have been this year, which the Philippines had assumed instead. 

Leaders of nine other ASEAN members will join Marcos, including Timor-Leste, which was admitted as the bloc's 11th member last year.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the International Monetary Fund will speak at the plenary as guests of the chair.

The summit opens on Sunday with plenary and retreat sessions, where leaders will review the Philippine chairship and discuss Myanmar. 

Leaders will also meet ASEAN lawmakers, business groups and youth representatives. 

Separate summits with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, the United Nations and the United States run from November 16 to 17. 

New Zealand will send its deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and Russia its foreign minister. 

On November 17, Marcos will also chair the 29th ASEAN Plus Three Summit with China, Japan and South Korea, and the 21st East Asia Summit.

The Philippines expects to present the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, the world's first binding region-wide deal on the digital economy.

Malacañang has declared November 16 to 18 special non-working days in Metro Manila to ease traffic and secure delegates.

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