Codes of conduct in the South China Sea and Taiwan's stand

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China are in the pro cess of negotiating a regional code of conduct in the South China Sea. It i s believed that the code, if adopted, will help to build trust and confiden ce among the claimants to ownership of the disputed islands located in the Spratlys/South China Sea area as well as promote stability in the Asia-Paci fic region. Taiwan is one of the six parties directly involved in the sover eignty and maritime jurisdictional disputes in the area. However, it has be en excluded from participating in the regional efforts to formulate the cod e of conduct. This article examines the current situation of the formulatio n of the ASEAN-China regional code of conduct in the South China Sea and Ta iwan's stand on the issue. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserv ed.