THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE AS A THREAT TO ASEAN COOPERATIVE SECURITY IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

Abstract

The article provides an overview of the dispute in the South China Sea between China and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) through the prism of ASEAN cooperative security. Emphasis is placed on the study of documents that envisionage mechanisms for resolving the dispute between China and ASEAN.

It is determined that the activities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a collective actor in resolving the dispute in the South China Sea are limited exclusively to confidence-building measures as the ultimate goal of activities in this area and the development of a code of conduct with the People's Republic of China. At the same time, the main legal instrument of ASEAN's relations with China at the mentioned waters remains the legally non-binding Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea of 4 November 2002, which indicates China's unwillingness to create a direct framework for cooperation in the South China Sea with a view to furthrer strengthening its position in the waters through militarisation and land reclamation activities.

The authors also consider and analyse the main limitations of ASEAN's security policy in the Asia-Pacific region and its cooperative security regime, including absolutisation of sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs, consensus as the basis for decision-making, adherence to the principle of mushyawarah - consultations as an end in itself, non-use of potential conflict resolution mechanisms due to soft institutionalism and the use of bilateral joint resource development in the South-China Sea, which undermines the principle of multilateralism of ASEAN cooperative security.