Beijing has nixed the idea of Manila to have a separate code of conduct only among Southeast Asian claimants of the South China Sea. Mao Ning, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said there was already an agreement in 2008 called Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China to craft a set of rules of engagement in the disputed sea.

Talosig-Bartolome, M. (2023, November 22). China: Code of conduct only for SCS claimants won’t do. Business Mirror, p. A2.