By Wan Muhammad Aslah Wan Razali
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- Australia and the European Union (EU) have stressed that the proposed South China Sea Code of Conduct must fully respect the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and must not undermine the maritime rights of claimant states or third parties.
Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia Danielle Heinecke told the 9th Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) South China Sea Conference 2026 here on Wednesday that the code must not diminish the rights provided under UNCLOS, whether for claimant states or third parties.
“Rules matter because they give states agency. They protect sovereignty and sovereign rights. They provide a crucial, agreed framework to prevent powerful nations from coercing smaller ones,” she said in a special address on the final day of the conference, themed “South China Sea 2026: Rules, Resilience, and Regional Order”.
Heinecke said UNCLOS provided a comprehensive legal framework for activities at sea, protected freedom of navigation and overflight, and provided binding mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
She said approximately two-thirds of Australia’s maritime trade passed through the South China Sea, making its safety and stability vital to the country’s economic interests.
“The South China Sea provides a test of whether all states, regardless of their size or power, can exercise their rights under international law,” she said.
She also highlighted cooperation with Malaysia, including around 13 joint defence exercises annually, either bilaterally or with regional partners, and a memorandum of understanding signed last month on drone systems to expand maritime surveillance and enforcement capabilities.
ASEAN and China have been negotiating the Code of Conduct to establish guidelines for conduct in the South China Sea, where several countries have overlapping claims.
The negotiations build on the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties signed in 2002, with both sides working towards concluding an effective and substantive code consistent with international law, including UNCLOS.
Meanwhile, EU Ambassador to Malaysia Rafael Daerr said the bloc supported ASEAN’s efforts towards an effective, substantive and legally binding Code of Conduct with China that was consistent with UNCLOS.
“We maintain that tensions and disputes must be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means in accordance with international law, with UNCLOS at its core,” he said in his special address at the same conference.
Daerr also reiterated the EU’s position that the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award was final and binding on the parties and must be respected.
He said freedom of navigation was an economic imperative, with threats to shipping routes affecting countries through rising prices and disrupted supply chains.
Daerr said the EU had launched a global pledge this week, supported by 60 countries, to keep international shipping routes open and free, and to reject coercive or unilateral actions at sea.
On practical cooperation, he said the EU wanted to strengthen maritime information sharing and operational coordination through the Indo-Pacific Regional Information Sharing platform (IORIS), while also working with Malaysia on maritime safety and the protection of critical infrastructure.
He said stronger trade and investment ties could reinforce countries’ shared interest in preserving a safe, stable and secure maritime environment.
“The Code of Conduct will only work if it is enshrined in clear principles, and if it respects everyone’s interests, and if it’s reliable,” he said.
Hosted by MIMA, the two-day conference from Oct 13 to 14 brought together policymakers, diplomats, academics and maritime security experts to examine regional cooperation, resilience and maritime legal frameworks.
-- BERNAMA