Territorial Disputes: ASEAN vs China and The Code of Conduct of South China Sea

 

Image by: East Asia Forum

"A struggle among countries in the area for sovereignty"   

    In a battle for territory, no country will back down especially if the said land has a bounty of resources that would be of big benefit to one's country. But... just how do we determine and rule if an island belongs to a specific country or not?

        The dispute between the ASEAN members and China over the South China Sea has been going on for decades. The South China Sea is undeniably one of the busiest waters (if not, the busiest of all) since most of the trading of resources from countries took place on the said land. Additionally, South China Sea is a habitat for many species and is considered "wealthy and prosperous" when it comes to resources and organisms. That's why it shouldn't be a surprise that countries are fighting for the territory. But among all those claimants — who has the right to own the South China Sea?

        The ASEAN first got involved in the South China Sea issues back in 1992 when the country Vietnam — which wasn't a member of the ASEAN during those times — had a dispute with China over oil exploration activities in the area. Then after 2 years, in 1994, China yet again got themselves into a dispute, but this time with the Philippines as China occupied the Mischief Reef which was a Philippine-claimed area. And hence, that was when the ASEAN decided to draft the first Code Of Conduct in hopes to solve the South China Sea disputes; but sadly, it actually took the ASEAN members nearly five years to unanimously agree on the draft that they would make.

            By that time, China also made its own draft. Both the ASEAN and China agreed to consolidate their drafts into a final paper, but the problem is that there were four (4) major areas of agreement namely the (1) geographic scope, (2) restrictions on construction on occupied and unoccupied features, (3) military activities in waters adjacent to the Spratly islands, and (4) policies concerning detainment of fishermen found in disputed waters. What the ASEAN members thought was the only disagreement regarding the South China Sea was actually only the beginning of a long history of arguments and conflict between the countries.

Cartoon by: P4RESH"

        China insists on solving the problem and disputes bilaterally by the countries directly concerned and involved. That seems fair as the problem should really only be solved by those who are embroiled in the said issue. But the problem is that China has its own set of rules on what's "right" and "wrong". If they believe that they are right, then they will push through with that idea regardless of who will be affected. This resulted in the ASEAN to long sought obtain China's consent for a COC or "Code of Conduct" in regards to the claims in the South China Sea so that they can prevent any claimants from using force or threats to advance their claims on the highly coveted territory.

        Though slow, progress is still evident. In 2002, ASEAN members and China signed a non-binding political statement known as the "Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" that would further promote peace and stability in the region. But even amidst the creation of multiple drafts of COC and DOCP, conflicts will still inevitably arise regarding the South China Sea as the countries involved are both hungry for power and dominance; in this case, the victor has yet to be determined.

 

Reference Used:

Global Conflict Tracker. (2022). Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/territorial-disputes-south-china-sea