The South China Sea Dispute: Code of Conduct Implementation as the Dispute Settlement

Abstract

After the end of World War II, China has claimed the area in South China Sea as its territory based on its historical background, or so-called the nine-dash line. This China’s unilateral accusation naturally reap many negative responses from countries in the area because it is consider as theirs. However, China who did not ratify UNCLOS 1982 as the international law stick to its own rules. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the effectiveness of Code of Conduct offered by ASEAN as the dispute settlement of this border issue. In an attempt to present the results, author collected primary and secondary data from official document and credible literature which are accessible on the internet such as journal and article website. The results of this study found that dispute resolution through the Code of Conduct still encounters obstacles, therefore it is necessary to do alternative solutions such as bilateral negotiations between the disputing parties.