CoC closely watched around the world

Members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and navy hold Chinese flags during the opening ceremony of the first China-ASEAN Maritime Exercise in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, China October 22, 2018. - Reuters/Filepic

IN August, Asean and China agreed on a single text to negotiate the Code of Conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea – a series of long-drawn negotiations on how countries should behave in the disputed maritime area.

After the announcement, senior Asean officials and their Chinese counterparts quickly got down to work and have met four times with the last meeting in Manila last month.