The South China Sea region attracts global attention because of its strategic significance, economic importance though the rich deposits of oil and gas, and especially due to sovereignty issues. Several nations including China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have been claiming parts of the sea for decades, resulting in rising conflicts over the years. South China Sea is not only the route of more than one-third of world maritime trade but also contain huge deposit of oil, natural gas and fish stock which has provided more importance to the countries involved.

Nevertheless, over militarization of the territories as well as the competing sovereignty claims to them have increased the chances of conflicts. Against this background of a multiplicity of conflicts, diplomacy is the only effective means for reducing tensions and achieving accommodation.

Over militarization of the territories as well as the competing sovereignty claims to them have increased the chances of conflicts.

The South China Sea is an important sea way of the world since it links the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It also plays a function of a transport channel through which commodities to the tune of trillions of dollars are moved. Apart from this, the region is endowed with other forms of resources such as the undiscovered oil and natural gas which makes the region very important in energy security. In addition, the South China Sea supports a range of fishes and other creatures who directly contribute to the livelihoods of the peoples of the Southeast Asian countries by supplying food for their growing population. Such valuable objectives as trade routes together with valuable natural resources and ecological riches have made the South China Sea an area of intense geopolitical activity.

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The main cause of frictions in the South China Sea is the aspect of sovereignty. China has claimed rights over nearly the whole of the South China Sea based on its so-called ‘nine-dash line’ map. This claim is, however, in dispute by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, which have its own overlapping claims, particularly, under the UNCLOS (United Nation Convention on Law of Sea). The Philippines took China to the Permanent Court of Arbitration back in 2013, which ruled in favor of the Philippines in 2016. But China rejected the said decision.

This has resulted in militarization, with China constructing artificial structures and stationing military equipment’s in the disputed waters. In response, other countries have built up their own military power and are attempting to establish close collaboration with their ally with the United States. The US has performed ‘freedom of navigation operation’ often in the South China Sea to assert what it considers as unlawful Chinese claims. The interference of outside powers has made it even more contentious, transforming the South China Sea into playground for great power confrontation.

Militarization and aggressive boasts have elevated the probability for conflict; diplomacy provides an opportunity for conflict resolution. A top component of the diplomacy embraced in the region has been the CoC (Code of Conduct) diplomacy between China and ASEAN. As mentioned, the CoC is to stipulate the desired behavioral norms in the waters of the South China Sea, avoid conflict situations, and implement measures for strengthening confidence. While diplomacy has been quite sluggish, the CoC marks a major taken forward to lowering the acrimony and ensuring that nonbinding misunderstandings that may result in armed conflict do not occur.

However, multilateral organizations, including but not limited to the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the East Asia Summit (EAS), are useful in creating dialogue for the parties involved. These forums provide the countries with a platform to express their concern, to put forward a solution and embrace measures that promote confidence building. For example, under the ARF, countries talk about maritime security, and the forum has played the role of helping to reduce tensions between the U.S and China on the issue of South China Sea.

CBMs are particularly important to avoid accidental formation of a conflict to improve relationships between the disputing countries. Such steps may include naval maneuvers, intelligence exchange, and setting up of military-to-military communication chains to handle events at the maritime domain. In 2018 presidents of China and members of ASEAN agreed to hold the first joint naval exercise showing readiness to perform cooperative actions and exclude the probability of occurrence of the military conflict.

CBMs are particularly important to avoid accidental formation of a conflict to improve relationships between the disputing countries.

Another way of reducing tension is through the JDAs (Joint Development Agreements) for exploiting the resources. As the South China Sea is endowed with enormous resources, the belligerent parties could share the resources, jointly explore the area, split the revenue and leave the question of sovereignty to be solved in another instance in another way. Both the Philippines and China work on the discussions regarding the cooperation on the possible exploration of the oil and gas resources, which show the cooperation in the practical level. It is such initiatives that can encourage cooperation and transfer the South China Sea from the area of conflict to the area of cooperation.

Managing the situations in the South China Sea is a complex job due to the conflicting self-interests of the countries involved. However, the target can be achieved by ensuring compliance with the norms of international law. There must be negotiations in this sphere that would mean an understanding of equal worth, and a desire to avoid violence. For China learning to compromise would also benefit the country’s image in the region for being seen as a power that is not aggressive while expanding its power and influence. For the smaller claimant nations which are part of ASEAN, the ability to keep ASEAN united and garner support from outside actors in the ASEAN region can setup the claimant nations in good stead to negotiate.