DECLARATION ON THE CONDUCT OF PARTIES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
The Governments of the Member States of ASEAN,
REAFFIRMING their determination by a common desire and collective will to live in a region of lasting peace, security and stability.
RESPECTING the fundamental interests of ASEAN sovereignty and territorial integrity.
COGNIZANT of the need to promote cooperation, consensus and unity in the environment of the South China Sea for the enhancement of peace and stability.
COMMITTED to enhancing the principles and objectives of the 2016 Joint Statement of the Meeting of the Heads of State/Government of the Member States of ASEAN.
DESIRING to strengthen the existing bonds of regional solidarity to realise an ASEAN Community that is politically cohesive, economically integrated and united in a shared commitment to sovereignty and territorial integrity.
HEREBY DECLARE the following:
1. The Parties reaffirm their commitment to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia;
2. The Parties concerned undertake to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by mutual consent, through friendly consultations and negotiations with the signatory parties, in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea;
3. The Parties undertake to exercise self-restraint among the signatory parties in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability including, among others, refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays, and other features and to handle their differences in a constructive manner.
4. The Parties concerned agree to enter negotiations with parties not signatory to this agreement only with the support of all other signatories to this Declaration and agree not to sign or become party to any agreement on this issue except with the mutual consent of all other parties to this Declaration.
5. The Parties undertake to respect the provisions of this Declaration and take actions consistent therewith;
6. The Parties encourage other countries to respect the principles contained in this Declaration and the territorial integrity of the signatory parties to this Declaration;
7. The Parties undertake to view any hostile act or act designed to frustrate this Declaration or to interfere with the territorial integrity of the signatory parties to be an act taken against all parties to this Declaration.
Done on the Fourth Day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Sixteen in Jakarta, the Republic of Indonesia.