A code is not enough

DIPLOMACY rewards patience. But there comes a point when patience begins to resemble complacency. For more than two decades, Asean and China have been negotiating a Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea. Through the years, diplomats have met in one capital after another, producing declarations, frameworks, guidelines and draft texts. Each round ends with hopeful statements that “progress has been made.” Meanwhile, events at sea have moved much faster than events in conference rooms. That raises an uncomfortable question. Are we negotiating the future? Or are we merely trying to catch up with a reality that has…