New Delhi:

India has reiterated that it stands for freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce and adherence to international law for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. Speaking at the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus Forum at Vientiane, Laos, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that the upcoming code of conduct for the regulation of maritime activity in the South China Sea needs to be consistent with international law.

The Defence Minister said the code should not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of nations which are not party to these deliberations. “The code should be fully consistent with international law, in particular the UN Convention Law of Sea 1982,” he added.

Singh said, “India believes that genuine, long-term solutions to global problems can only be achieved when nations engage constructively, respecting each other’s perspectives and working toward shared goals in the spirit of cooperation.”

Earlier this year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while addressing the 14th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Laos, also asserted that a “substantive and effective” code of conduct should be in place that is “consistent with international law and should not prejudice legitimate rights and interest of nations not party to the discussions”. He also stressed that the Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) passing through the South China Sea are crucial for the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific Region.

DISPUTE ON SOUTH CHINA SEA

The South China Sea is a semi-enclosed water channel bordered on the west by Vietnam, on the east by the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam, on the south by Indonesia and Malaysia, and the north by China and Taiwan. It is located on the major international shipping route between the Indian Ocean and northeast Asia, including the ports of Korea, China, Russia and Japan, and approximately USD 5.3 trillion worth of goods transit through the South China Sea annually, according to a report by China Power.

The South China Sea also houses rich fishing grounds and over half of the world’s fishing vessels operate in this area, according to a report by BBC. Countries surrounding the water body have wrestled over control of the territory with competing claims for centuries, but the tension has grown in recent years.

Countries have staked claims on islands and various zones in the sea, such as the Paracels and the Spratlys. Though largely uninhabited, the Paracels and the Spratlys may have reserves of natural resources around them.

CHINA’s CLAIM

Of all the countries surrounding the South China Sea, China reportedly claims sovereignty over the largest portion of the territory and demarcates it by its so-called “nine-dash line”. In 1947, Beijing issued a map detailing its claims and insisted its right to the area goes back centuries to when the Paracel and Spratly island chains were regarded as integral parts of the Chinese nation. The nine-dash line that appears on Chinese maps encompassing almost the entirety of the South China Sea includes no coordinates, as per the BBC report.

Taiwan mirrors these claims and says South China Sea islands are part of the territory of the Republic of China.

DISPUTE ON CHINA’s CLAIM

Vietnam disputes Beijing’s account and says China had never claimed sovereignty over the islands before the 1940s. Accounting to Vietnam, both the Paracels and the Spratlys have been actively ruled by it since the 17th Century. It also claims to have documents to prove it.

The Philippines is also another major claimant to the area. The Philippines invokes its geographical proximity to the Spratly Islands as the main basis of its claim. The Philippines also lay claim to the Scarborough Shoal, which China calls its territory.

Malaysia and Brunei also lay claim to parts of the South China Sea that fall within their economic exclusion zones, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.

UN VERDICT AND CODE OF CONDUCT

In 2013, The Philippines turned to legal arbitration against China’s claims over the South China Sea. On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines, determining that major elements of China’s claims, including its nine-dash line, and recent land reclamation activities-were unlawful. The UN verdict was based on UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) – regarded as the global constitution for the seas signed by 162 nations including China.

Predictably, China refused to accept a UN verdict, maintaining it was “null and void.”

Now, a “code of conduct” (COC) in the South China Sea is being discussed among six countries – the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei – that are party to the maritime boundary dispute.

Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, and Thailand, which are also part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with other member countries –Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam– are part of the negotiations for the code.

Negotiations over a COC have waxed and waned for two decades. Last July, in a bid to expedite an agreement, a three-year deadline was agreed to conclude the talks, according to a report by The Interpreter.

WORLD’s STAKE IN OUTCOME

The COC on the South China Sea will affect India and several other countries like the US, the UK, Japan and Australia. China’s claims threaten sea lines of communication (SLOCs), which are important maritime passages that facilitate trade and the movement of naval forces.

To protect its political, security, and economic interests in the region, the United States has challenged China’s assertive territorial claims and land reclamation efforts by conducting freedom of navigation operations and bolstering support for Southeast Asian partners.

To counter China’s assertive presence, Japan has also sold military ships and equipment to the Philippines and Vietnam to improve their maritime security capacity and to deter Chinese aggression.