KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 ― A seminar on the Code of Conduct (CoC) as a tool for peace in the disputed South China Sea (SCS) will be held on Jan 13.

Titled "South China Sea: Code of Conduct A Tool For Conflict Resolution”, the seminar will be held at the Eastin Hotel in Petaling Jaya from 9am-2pm.

"The code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, responsibilities and proper practice for the parties engaged in the SCS conflict.

"Thus, this seminar aims to deliberate and discuss how much of the CoC should be a tool for peace and security for the Asean member states,” said the event's organiser Kazi Mahmood to Bernama in an interview, here, on Tuesday (January 7).

Kazi, citing experts’ view, said that SCS is an important shipping area rich in minerals and marine resources and that the CoC will cover all aspects such as security, ownership, respect of international laws, stability and future economic exploitation of the SCS.

"The CoC is important because it offers an opportunity for ASEAN to have a hand in the security dealings in the disputed seas,” he said.

Kazi said some 50 people are expected to attend the event, and its three main speakers include Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, who will be talking on CoC.

The other two speakers are Bunn Nagara, Senior Fellow of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, who will speak on SCS in Conflict; and Cdr Ang Chin Hup (R), a senior researcher at the Maritime Institute of Malaysia, on the Economics of the SCS conflict.

Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah was reported as saying last Friday that Malaysia will maintain its claim in the disputed SCS area despite China’s objection to Malaysia’s submission of the claim to the United Nations last month.

He said Malaysia submitted to the UN Secretary-General on December12, 2019, its claim to the remaining portions of its extended continental shelf at the northern area of Dangerous Ground in the South China Sea (Claim Area Limits of Continental Shelf Phase II).

Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and non-Asean members China and Taiwan, are involved in the South China Sea disputes.

Attendance for the seminar is strictly by invitation, and interested parties can email kazimahmood@gmail.com. ― Bernama