"Chapter 10: The DOC and Dispute Management in the South China Sea: Maintaining Dialogue, Maximizing Convergences" - by CWP alum Cheng-Chwee Kuik
The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), signed by ASEAN member states and China in 2002, plays a pivotal role in managing the complex territorial disputes in the region. Despite its nature as a non-legally binding political declaration, the DOC facilitates dialogue, manages expectations, and promotes cooperation among the claimants. While the DOC has not effectively restrained unilateral actions or prevented rising tensions, it remains a significant framework for continuous negotiation and risk mitigation. Over the past two decades, the DOC has provided a foundational platform for further engagement, leading to incremental progress towards establishing a Code of Conduct (COC). The DOC’s importance lies in its ability to maintain regional stability and support ASEAN-China dialogue, even amidst increasing international uncertainties. Although the DOC faces criticism for its limitations, it has enabled ASEAN and China to explore peaceful dispute management strategies, emphasizing the necessity for ongoing dialogue and practical cooperation. The chapter underscores the need to further develop and expand the DOC’s promises and potential to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the South China Sea.
https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811296031_0010 - Series on Asian Regional Cooperation StudiesSustainable Peace of the South China Sea, pp. 193-208 (2025) - https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789811296031_0010
Dr. Kuik Cheng-Chwee is Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), National University of Malaysia (UKM). He is concurrently a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) and a Nonresident Scholar at Carnegie China. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Princeton-Harvard “China and the World” (CWP) Program and a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University. Professor Kuik’s research focuses on smaller-state foreign and defence policies, Asian security, and international relations. Cheng-Chwee is a regular invited speaker to international conferences and closed-door policy roundtables. Cheng-Chwee’s publications have appeared in such peer-reviewed journals as International Affairs, Pacific Review, Journal of Chinese Political Science, Journal of Contemporary China, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, and Contemporary Southeast Asia. His essay, “The Essence of Hedging”, won the Michael Leifer Memorial Prize awarded by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He is co-author (with David Lampton and Selina Ho) of Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia (2020) and co-editor (with Alice Ba and Sueo Sudo) of Institutionalizing East Asia (2016). His current projects include: hedging in international relations, domestic politics and foreign policy choices, and the geopolitics of connectivity cooperation. Cheng-Chwee serves on the editorial boards of Contemporary Southeast Asia, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Asian Politics and Policy, International Journal of Asian Studies, and East Asian Policy. He holds an M.Litt. from the University of St. Andrews, and a PhD from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.
Photo Credit: By Vectorized by Commons:User:Madden from http://www.asean.org/7095.htm, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22558629
