Spratlys divide China, ASEAN
Following China's surprise bold announcement to the ASEAN foreign ministers in Brunei earlier this month, that it would follow the convention in the UN Law of the Sea over the Spratlys, Beijing has further offered an olive branch to the Philippines.
Last week, the two countries agreed to set up expert panels to discuss the legal bases for their conflicting claims in the South China Sea.
The two sides also agreed on the principals of a "code of conduct" in the region, the shape and details of which were to be discussed further.
The code would act as a guide, to peaceful approaches, to the question of building confidence and trust.
The discussion on the legal basis for the claims would also take into account international law and the UN convention on the Law of the Sea.
The two sides also agreed to look into modes of cooperation in the region, in order to promote confidence and preserve stability.
Mischief Reef in the Spratlys was occupied by China earlier this year.
China maintained that the structures built by them on the reef were for peaceful purposes, while the Philippines emphasized they were a source of "deep concern for the people of the Philippines because of its proximity to the province of Palawan and because it constituted a change in the situation in the South China Sea."
The South China Sea dispute is clearly one of the most difficult issues between China and ASEAN, and it so happens that at this point Beijing's relations with the U.S. have deteriorated to the lowest level.
But the Chinese have yet to discard their traditional claims of sovereignty, that "we were there long before others and this part of the territory of the sea belongs to us..."
Last week's announcement was a major change but it does not lead to a completely new direction. The consolation is that the Chinese would like to consider international law in settling the Spratlys dispute.
Let us hope this is the beginning of a more tame China with regards to disputes in the South China Sea.
-- The Nation, Bangkok