Washington should more publicly support efforts to get China and the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to engage and conclude a binding code of conduct in the South China Sea, a Filipino-American senior policy maker based in the United States said. Robert Zarate, policy director of the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), said the US should continue to encourage rival claimants to explore various options for joint development of the sea's hydrocarbon and food resources, with the aim of moving the various maritime and territorial disputes further away from a zero-sum situation. "There's a great deal at stake in the South China Sea," Zarate said in a paper published recently.

Mabasa, R. C. (2012, September 7). US should encourage code of conduct in South China Sea. Manila Bulletin, p. 4.