(ECNS) -- The South China Sea has entered a phase of order building, with broad prospects for security cooperation between China and ASEAN countries, said Wang Junsheng, a research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, or CASS, in a recent interview.
Peace and stability in the South China Sea represent the common aspiration of all regional countries including China, and serve the interests of all parties involved. However, the U.S. has been advancing its Indo-Pacific Strategy in recent years, attempting to turn the region into a key front for containing China.
Wang noted that strategic competition between the U.S. and China in East Asia will inevitably extend to the South China Sea issue. In his view, the Trump administration will continue to exploit the South China Sea issue, though it will likely pay less attention to the region compared to the Biden administration.
"Donald Trump focuses more on domestic issues. In East Asia, the U.S. cares more about the Korean Peninsula issue, while in its competition with China, the Taiwan question will take precedence over the South China Sea issue," he said.
Most East Asian countries are pragmatic and maintain neutrality amid U.S.-China strategic competition. They act in line with their own national interests and do not exclude cooperation with either China or the U.S. This rational stance has created favorable conditions for the building of a stable order in the South China Sea, Wang explained.
"Therefore, the South China Sea is presented with an opportunity to construct its order," he said.
China and ASEAN countries should accelerate the implementation of practical maritime cooperation under the framework of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and speed up the pace of consultations on the "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC)," he added.
To this end, Wang proposed two suggestions: First, fully implement the Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and jointly build the "Five Homes" of peace, tranquility, prosperity, beauty and friendship; Second, establish a security cooperation mechanism among countries along the South China Sea based on the COC.
Currently, China and ASEAN countries focus on the economic and trade cooperation, with bilateral trade volume reaching 982.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, more than double the figure from 2013. The two sides have been each other's largest trading partners for five consecutive years.
"There is still broad room for cooperation between the two sides in the security field, and they should expand the bilateral cooperation to the security field," Wang suggested.
Moreover, China and the Philippines have extensive cooperation in non-traditional security fields such as the marine economy, and the two sides should continue to strengthen such cooperation, he added.
(By Zhang Dongfang)
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