Related: East China Sea

In addition to the threat of piracy or the use of force to maintain control over areas by South China Sea (SCS) claimants, the SCS has a history as a hotspot for violence. Fishing boats from one country are harassed by other claimants, occasionally resulting in civilian fatalities. Companies permitted to explore for oil and natural gas by one country have been denied access to disputed areas by armed ships of other claimants. Military skirmishes are not unknown in the SCS, the most serious having occurred between China and Vietnam. In 1974, China invaded and captured the Paracel Islands from Vietnam. In 1988, 70 Vietnamese sailors died when China sunk several Vietnamese ships in a confrontation at Johnson Reef in the Spratly Islands. Click here for a summary of military clashes in the SCS since 1970.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has emerged as an important forum for dialogue amongst South China Sea claimants. Though ASEAN does not include China and Taiwan, a number of working groups with China and Taiwan have been held on issues with the potential to foster the relationships necessary to resolve the more contentious issues in the region. Indonesia hosted the first dialogue workshop in 1990 and has since taken a leading role in diplomatic initiatives and cooperative agreements to resolve SCS issues.

In 1996, ASEAN ministers agreed to the need for a regional code of conduct for the SCS that would permit activities such as scientific research, combating piracy, and thwarting drug trafficking without invoking the issue of sovereignty. In 1999, a Vietnamese and Filipino draft for a general code of conduct was put forward at the ASEAN Summit. In November 2002, China and the 10 ASEAN members signed a Joint Declaration on the Conduct of Parties, pledging to “undertake to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means” without “resorting to the threat or the use of force.”

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF; 22 countries involved in the security of the Asia Pacific region, including all ASEAN members) has held discussions on SCS issues. China, an ARF member, has argued in the past that the resolution of territorial disputes should be a bilateral issue. Other ARF members, such as the United States, have argued that all ARF members have an interest in issues affecting the peace and stability of the region, and that the ARF forum was appropriate for discussing these issues. Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar has stated his belief that ASEAN territorial issues were matters for ASEAN discussion, not other international forums.

In December 2000, bilateral group meetings between Vietnam and China resolved Gulf of Tonkin (Beibu Wan in Chinese; Vinh Bac Bo in Vietnamese) boundary issues. Vietnam had wanted to include the dispute over the Paracel Islands in any “code of conduct”, but the idea was not supported by other ASEAN members as the Paracels are disputed only amongst Vietnam, China, and Taiwan. In 2007, joint patrols of the Gulf of Tonkin were conducted by China and Vietnam.

Malaysia and Brunei held talks in 2003 regarding their conflicting EEZ claims, but have yet to reach an agreement. In 2003, naval vessels from Malaysia and Brunei acted (without the actual use of force) to prevent exploration vessels from working in the disputed area.

Since 2005, China (via China National Offshore Oil Corporation, CNOOC), the Philippines (via The Philippine National Oil Company), and Vietnam (via PetroVietnam) have worked together to conduct seismic surveys in a 55,000 square mile area including the Spratly Islands. The $15 million project cost has been shared by the three companies and an “unprecedented” level of information sharing has occurred amongst the national companies. In April of 2007, China National Petroleum Corporation, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, and CNOOC announced plans to begin drilling exploratory wells in the waters surrounding the Spratlys in early 2008.