The second workshop of the initiative “Partnership for Regional Peace: Operationalising ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in Southeast Asia” was held in Hainan, China from 17-19 January 2016. Organized by two think tanks - the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Indonesia and China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCS) – and supported as well by Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, this meeting follows an initial workshop held last September in Jakarta.
As with the first meeting, APPFI's Chair Raphael Lotilla and President Aileen Baviera played active roles, as co-chair and member, respectively, of the working group on confidence building. The working group discussed proposals for cooperation and the management of maritime disputes affecting China and ASEAN. A final workshop will be held later this year to draft recommendations for the consideration of the governments of ASEAN and China. The other Filipino participants include Prof Jay Batongbacal of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, Prof Jaime Naval of UP Political Science Department, and Prof Rommel Banlaoi of Miriam College.
In another activity also on the subject of the South China Sea, Lotilla and Baviera travelled to Washington, DC from November 17-20, 2015 for a workshop organized by United States’ Center for Strategic and International Studies and China’s NISCS.