Revisiting the Need for a Legally Binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea: Chasing a Moving Target
Legal bindingness is one of the most contentious points in the consultations between ASEAN countries and China on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC). Legal bindingness will differentiate the COC from the nonbinding 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC); after all, a legally binding agreement was the original vision…