Editorial | Code of conduct best way forward on rows in South China Sea
Until an agreement is in place, disputes should be resolved through dialogue rather than resorting to force and violence
Clashes and tensions between rival claimants for the South China Sea seem to have become the rule rather than the exception this year, with worrying confrontations between the coastguard vessels of China and the Philippines, and recently Vietnam.
It was therefore welcome news to see Southeast Asian leaders call for a swift agreement on a code of conduct based on international law for these troubled waters.
The call came as the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) earlier this month concluded meetings in Laos that were also attended by diplomats from China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. Premier Li Qiang reportedly told the summit that China and Asean were “striving for early conclusion” of the code of conduct for the South China Sea.
China has claimed large swathes of the disputed region, through which US$3 trillion in annual trade passes. An arbitral ruling in The Hague in 2016 voided most of its claim. Beijing has rejected this ruling and its ships regularly patrol the critical waterway.
The joint statement came despite fissures in the 10-member bloc. At the summit, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr detailed incidents of harassment involving vessels from his country and Chinese ships in the region and called on the grouping to expedite the code.
The United States is bound by treaty to defend the Philippines if it is attacked. In a bid to defuse tensions, Manila and Beijing agreed in July to allow the Philippines to resupply a grounded warship serving as an outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal.
