Fourth, ASEAN's code empha-sizes the suspension of further occupation of islets, a point not mentioned in the Beijing's draft.
Fifth, ASEAN's code does not mention the avoidance of military exercises, reconnaissance, or patrols, while the PRC's code op-poses such actions in the Spratlys.
Several countries, including the ROC and the PRC have suggested the joint development of the Spratlys, but not everyone agrees.
The ROC has seen the benefits of such joint development, given its exploration, along with Japan and South Korea of the East China Sea in 1970. The method used at that time was to shelve territorial disputes and establish a private company for the joint development of fisheries, scientific research and pollution prevention.
President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) re-emphasized such an idea in 1994, suggesting that the feuding parties jointly develop the Spratlys through a private company, putting aside their territorial disputes for the common good.
However, most ASEAN countries did not support the proposal on the grounds of lack of diplomatic relations and suspicions over joint development operations with the PRC.
No matter what kind of joint approach is suggested by the states concerned, it seems that it is not easy to touch the hearts of all the states involved in the disputes.
However, Hasjim Djalal, a prominent Indonesian scholar, agrees with Lee's idea.
"Joint development should initially start with non-official arrangements, including private commercial companies," he said.
I have a different idea. Hasjim Djalal has argued for the inclusion in a joint development project of those "directly interested parties which maintain a presence in the zone." In my view, it is better to limit the participants in a joint development to those disputed parties because the possibility of resolution would then be higher.
I would also argue that the so-called "zone of joint development" or "zone of cooperation" should be limited in the overlapping areas, which only involve the disputed parties.
Even though Taiwan has no diplomatic relations with Southeast Asian countries, it should not be excluded from any multilateral agreement or regional code of conduct.
From a historic and modern legal base, Taiwan has more reasonable legal rights of territorial sovereignty in the Spratly Islands than the other disputants. It occupies one of the largest islands in the Spratlys, Taiping Island (Itu Aba Island).
The willingness of Taiwan to look for common interests via the organization of a private company to resolve the disputes does not mean it is inclined to give up its claim to the Spratlys.
In addition, a regional code of conduct, whenever it established, should not be regarded as recognition of the status quo in the Spratlys.
Chen Hurng Yu is a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at National Cheng Chi University.
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