The Declaration On The Conduct Of Parties In The South China Sea:Origin;Plight;Future

In recent years, the situation in the South China Sea has been unstable withvarious behaviors against the DOC on the part of countries in the region as well asmore intervention from countries outside the region such as the US. In this context,the South China Sea dispute heats up and become the focus of regional security, thusthe Chinese strategic pressure in the South China Sea is showing an upward trend.DOC was signed in2002. Now it has been10years since the implementation of theDeclaration. However, a lot of difficulties of a practical nature have risen up in theimplementation. Guidelines on the implementation of Declaration was signed in2011,which provides guidance for the further implementation of the Declaration and hasplayed a significant role in promoting situation relaxation in this region.The thesis combines methods of historical analysis and literature analysis andtries to apply theories to practice. On the basis of a brief review of the generation ofthe DOC, the paper interprets relevant national’s change of positions and attitudes inthe process of discussing the draft declaration. Besides, the paper also paper analyzesof the positive significance of the Declaration and deep reasons for realistic dilemma.By using theories of international political economy and geopolitics, the thesisanalyzes how ASEAN countries have joined hands with powers outside the region toexploit oil and gas as well as suppress China strategically for their own interests.Through analysis, this article reveals the reasons for many difficulties in theactual implementation of the Declaration. On the one hand, the Declaration itself isnot an international treaty. Thus, it is not binding in a strict sense. On the other hand,with countries such as the United States, Japan and India and other countries outsidethe region involved in the South China Sea disputes, the environment forimplementing the Declaration is somewhat destroyed. Also, countries in the regionoften take actions to destroy the Declaration for their own interests.