Beijing and Asean claimants of South China Sea urged to look for areas of practical cooperation to help bring down barriers

Working together in areas such as fisheries and environmental protection could help ongoing talks on a code of conduct, according to one Chinese observer

Progress on reaching an agreement on how to manage disputes have dragged on for years, already missing one deadline

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A Chinese-controlled reef in the disputed Spratly Islands. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:00am, 6 Jul 2023Updated: 2:33pm, 6 Jul 2023

South China Sea claimants have been urged to set goals on practical cooperation in areas such as fisheries and environmental protection to help reduce barriers to an agreement on a code of conduct for the disputed waters.

A second reading of a code of conduct for the South China Sea is expected to be completed this year but observers said a final document about how the countries can handle their disputes could still be years away.

“Whether the negotiation [of the code] can be completed and its enforcement be fully realised is totally uncertain and unpredictable,” Wu Shicun, president of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies, wrote in an article published on the institute’s social media platform on Tuesday.

Wu cited recent conflicts among different claimant countries and interference from countries like the US as key obstacles.

“These [factors] have created unprecedented difficulties to the ongoing institution and rule-building progress of maritime cooperation and governance in the South China Sea.”

The idea of a code of conduct was first raised in the 1990s with China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreeing a vaguely worded Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in 2002.