By Ching Chang

October 20, 2015

"The South China Sea has turned into a hotspot for potential regional conflicts in recent years. Nonetheless, parties concerned have already tried their best efforts to establish certain mechanisms to prevent crisis and reduce tension together. The first significant initiative was the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea', known as the DOC, signed by all the members of the ASEAN and the People’s Republic of China on November 4, 2002.

Although the Article Ten of the DOC explicitly noted with 'The Parties concerned reaffirm that the adoption of a code of conduct in the South China Sea would further promote peace and stability in the region and agree to work, on the basis of consensus, towards the eventual attainment of this objective.', no substantial progress has been achieved since then. On July 20, 2011, another joint statement signed by the ASEAN members states and the PRC known as the 'Guidelines for the Implementation of the DOC' was noted as another milestone for 'embodying their collective commitment to promoting peace, stability and mutual trust and to ensuring the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea.' Nonetheless, the Code of Conduct was never mentioned by the later established guidelines. It may also imply the actual pessimistic situation for formulating the South China Sea Code of Conduct."

Read more:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/10/examining-the-flaws-of-the-south-china-sea-code-of-conduct/

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