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Stakeholders renew push for South China Sea code of conduct

Mandeep Singh

Stakeholders are pushing for expedited completion of the South China Sea code of conduct, a multilateral pact to deter and manage incidents in the disputed waters and reduce tensions across the region.
During a meeting in Singapore in September 2022, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called for an effective and substantive code of conduct that safeguards the rights and interests of all parties who pass through the sea. Afterward, Marcos’ sister, Philippine Sen. Maria Imelda Marcos, proposed that negotiations be limited to countries with overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The long-awaited code of conduct aims to build on the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, signed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states in 2002. Signatories to that agreement, which affirmed freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes and restraint in the conduct of operations, reviewed a draft of the pending code in 2019 and have committed to a second reading before the end of 2022.

Analysts contend that Beijing’s ongoing stall tactics are part of its overarching strategy to seize control of the disputed waterway before a code to reduce the risk of conflict is implemented.

ASEAN began working on such a code in the 1990s. Since then, the PRC has reclaimed more than 1,200 hectares of land, about 19 times as much as reclaimed by all other affected nations and territories combined. A final deal has remained out of reach, largely due to the PRC, which continues to block adoption despite decades of promises to accelerate the process.

ASEAN members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have each faced harassment by People’s Liberation Army vessels within their exclusive economic zones. An international tribunal at The Hague in 2016 invalidated the PRC’s claims to much of the waters, which are based on Beijing’s self-proclaimed “nine-dash line” demarcation.

A code of conduct could help prevent such harassment, especially if powers from outside the region are involved, Julio Amador III, president of the Foundation for the National Interest, a Manila-based think tank, told FORUM.

“The U.S. and Japan, while not direct participants in the negotiations, are key stakeholders in the maritime commons” and sea lines of communication, Amador said. “They will remain invested in the negotiations and serve an important role in preventing any great power from bullying smaller countries in the process.”

United States and ASEAN leaders, during a summit in Washington, D.C., in May 2022, emphasized the need to finalize and implement the code.

Despite that determination, analysts warn that hurdles remain. The scope of the code of conduct — whether it will be legally binding, the role of extra-regional powers and the extent to which it will cover military vessels and aircraft from outside the region — remains a contentious issue.

“There must be a conclusion, because otherwise we cannot reassure our shipping community, our international companies dealing with business in this part of the world,” Singaporean ambassador-at-large Ong Keng Yong told India’s Asian News International in early October 2022.

Mandeep Singh is a FORUM contributor reporting from New Delhi, India.

IMAGE CREDIT: ISTOCK

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