During the 63rd CSCAP Steering Committee Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur in December 2025, CSCAP Philippines prevailed in the vote to host the conference, securing the confidence of Member Committees to convene the network’s largest and most important gathering.
DETAILED AGENDA
Welcome Address by CSCAP Co-Chairs
Datuk Prof Mohd Faiz Abdulla, CSCAP Malaysia
Dr. Liu Qing, CSCAP China
Welcome Address by CSCAP Philippines
Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel, CSCAP Philippines
Keynote Address by a Senior Philippine Government Official
The opening session will comprehensively and objectively assess regional security and identify the principal sources of instability, including intensifying major-power competition, the growing use of coercion and force, especially in the maritime domain, economic fragmentation, and the spillover effects from conflicts beyond the region, among others. Panelists will examine how these developments challenge international law and established norms, strain global and regional governance, and test the effectiveness of existing cooperative mechanisms for preventing conflict, managing disputes, and preserving regional stability. The session will provide the strategic context for the discussions that follow.
This panel will provide a broader assessment of the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and other related international legal instruments across three of the region’s most consequential maritime areas: the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and the Yellow Sea. It will examine whether the Convention is being faithfully applied, identify the principal sources of tension and non-compliance, and consider the factors contributing to their escalation. The discussion will also explore what states and regional institutions can do to uphold UNCLOS as the governing legal framework for the region’s maritime zones and prevent it from being weakened or displaced by alternative arrangements that accommodate excessive claims in the name of “de-escalation,” which, in turn, could reward future transgressions. The session will also cover bilateral agreements and other arrangements such as the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, the 2008 Japan-China Agreement on Cooperation for the Development of East China Sea Resources, and the 2001 Agreement on Fisheries between the Republic of Korea and the People’s Republic of China, to assess their effectiveness, weaknesses and areas for improvement.
This panel will examine how economic interdependence is increasingly viewed through the lens of national security as governments expand export controls, investment screening, industrial subsidies, and restrictions involving critical technologies and infrastructure. Panelists will assess supply chain resilience and strategic dependencies, the growing politicization of trade and technology, and the competing approaches of decoupling and de-risking. The discussion will also consider how states can strengthen economic resilience without accelerating protectionism, fragmenting the global economy, or further weakening the multilateral trading system.
This Townhall will examine how artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are reshaping security, economic competition, public governance, and information environments across the Asia-Pacific. It will consider whether the region risks becoming divided among competing approaches to AI governance: a largely market-driven and innovation-focused United States model, a more state-directed and development-oriented Chinese model that balances innovation and governance, and the European Union’s more rules-based and risk-conscious regulatory approach. Panelists will assess the implications of this fragmentation for standards, data governance, interoperability, military applications, surveillance, disinformation, and access to advanced technologies, while exploring whether the Asia-Pacific can develop common principles that promote innovation, accountability, safety, and responsible use.
Reserved for Sponsoring Organizations or Ministerial Level Speaking Engagement.
Details on this will be provided later.
This session will examine how transnational threats increasingly intersect with geopolitical competition, domestic politics, and unsettled border issues. Panelists will consider the expansion of illicit economies, cyber-enabled scam operations, human and drug trafficking, arms smuggling, climate change, and environmental challenges such as those in the lower Mekong, as well as how political instability and undue external influence enable these challenges to persist.
This session will assess the changing nuclear-security environment in the Asia-Pacific amid expanding arsenals, nuclear modernization, growing reliance on nuclear deterrence, and the weakening of global arms-control and nonproliferation mechanisms. Particular attention will be given to the substantial expansion of some nuclear weapon states’ nuclear arsenals and their limited response to calls for greater transparency, as well as the future of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ), proliferation concerns related to the storage and transfer of weapons-grade materials, as well as the implications for strategic stability and regional arms dynamics. Panelists will examine the risks of proliferation, arms racing, and possible nuclear use, alongside the effects of extended deterrence and emerging technologies.
Drawing on the debates throughout the conference, this concluding session will discuss key findings, focusing on ways to foster a comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security order in the Asia-Pacific. It will also examine what combination of security arrangements is needed to advance regional peace and stability. Panelists will assess the respective roles of regional institutions and the state of ASEAN centrality, including whether different mechanisms should be pursued in parallel depending on the nature of the challenge and the prospects for progress. The discussion will explore ways to advance open, inclusive, and resilient regional security architecture; strengthen confidence-building measures; improve crisis management; uphold international law; and expand practical security cooperation, while ensuring that these efforts remain mutually reinforcing and responsive to the security needs of states across the region.
