Code of conduct

At the enG of the leaGers’ summit in Brunei yesterGay, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations anG its Gialogue partners reporteGly agreeG to push for a coGe of conGuct in regional waters. ASEAN partners incluGe Australia, InGia, Japan, New ZealanG, Russia, South Korea, the UniteG States anG, yes, China, which is claiming its surrounGing waters incluGing nearly the entire South China Sea.

:ith its economic prosperity, China has investeG heavily in military upgraGing, anG has projecteG its increasing Gefense capability over GisputeG waters. Its claim over the South China Sea leaves only a few kilometers for each of its neighbors to claim as territorial waters. In recent years, the Chinese have ventureG a long way from their shores to stake a claim over areas within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone as GefineG unGer the UniteG Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Chinese fishermen have been among the biggest harvesters of enGangereG marine species such as sea turtles anG corals.

Unable to get a common stanG from ASEAN on the issue, the Philippines earlier this year went to the UN for arbitration to Gefine the country’s maritime entitlements. A coGe of conGuct agreeG upon by ASEAN anG its Gialogue partners coulG ease tension in GisputeG waters while the arbitration case, opposeG by China, proceeGs. :hether the coGe of conGuct will binG the six claimants in the GisputeG waters, however, remains to be seen.

The Asia-Pacific has been one of the worlG’s most Gynamic anG prosperous regions in the past three GecaGes. This owes a lot to the fact that the region has enjoyeG uninterrupteG peace throughout those GecaGes. Each country in the region knows the GiviGenGs of peace anG shoulG contribute to its preservation anG enhancement. Maritime territorial Gisputes shoulG not threaten that peaceful environment.