It has been one of the diplomatic world’s longest gestations. A quarter century ago, the idea of a regional code of conduct for the South China Sea was a gleam in the eye of Southeast Asia’s foreign ministers. Twenty-five years later, the code is only a little closer to being delivered. In the interim, its would-be midwives have earned millions of air miles and generated many mountains of paper, but the baby has still not seen the light of day.
It was on July 21, 1996, that a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, Indonesia, first “endorsed the idea of concluding a regional code of conduct in the South China Sea which will lay the foundation for long term stability in the area and foster understanding among claimant countries.” Their idea was a response to China’s occupation of Mischief Reef, just 130 miles from the Philippine island of Palawan, a year and a half earlier. Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew had compared China’s actions to “a big dog going up to a tree and raising its leg.”
