United Nations

S/RES/1.1 (2016)

Security Council
Topic: South China Sea Dispute
Sponsor:
Signatories:

Resolution 1.1 (2016)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 1st meeting, on
26 November 2016
The Security Council,
Reaffirming its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations for the
maintenance of international peace and security and its readiness to strive for sustainable
peace in all situations under its consideration,
Reaffirming that the objective of ASEAN is to promote peace and stability through
abiding respect for justice and the rule of law, as embodied in the ASEAN Declaration of
1967,
Recalling that past resolutions the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas
(UNCLOS), the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in South China Sea, have not
been fully effective in helping to solving the dispute,
Acknowledging Article 73, part 3, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea, which imposes a duty upon states to negotiate in good faith,
Recognizing the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in South China Sea,
which stated that dispute must be resolved through peaceful means, without resorting to
threat or use of force and through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states
directly concerned,
Deeply concerned on escalation of conflict among the claimant states arising from the
overlapping jurisdictional and territorial claims in the South China Sea,
Acknowledging that the South China Sea is a one of the most strategic waterways, as
it contains abundant trade, fish, oil and gas,
Recognizing the potential for worldwide violence as a result of this dispute,

Stressing the importance of reaching a compromise and noting that past attempts at
negotiations have proven unsuccessful to avoid potential violence.
1. Urges military, both maritime and air force, from each disputed country to directly
communicate in order to defuse tensions in the case of a crisis, prevent escalation and
as a means of confidence-building measures
a. Maritime and air communication mechanisms must be in place to ensure
effectiveness, such mechanisms include:
i. Provisions for both scheduled and emergency meeting during
escalation of conflict between disputed countries
1. Scheduled meetings between military of disputed countries
should be held semi-annually
a. Such meeting meetings discuss matter should not
discuss sovereignty matter, but rather discuss matters
such as, but limited to:
i. Specific incidents that took place
ii. Improving the safety of aircrafts and vessels
b.
Considering that such disputes involved non-military
actors, the semi-annual meetings could imply a wholeof-government approach, including:
i. Maritime law enforcers
ii. Fishing ministries
iii. Civil aviation
iv. Respective military forces, both air and navy
2. In the case of an escalation of conflict, emergency meetings
should be held
ii. Military hotline between naval and air force should include a clear
protocol and a point of contact. Such hotlines include:
1. Secure phone lines
2. Secure video conference lines
iii. Implementation of Western Pacific Naval Symposiums Code
on Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) in order to further reduce
tension between disputed countries;

2. Calls for a moratorium for resource exploitation in overlapping areas pending final
delimitations as it represents prejudice to the final delimitation agreement, thus
violating UNCLOS 74(3) and UNCLOS 83(3);
3. Requests nations with disputed areas to enter a provisional agreement of a practical
nature during the transitional period, as stated in UNCLOS 74(3) and UNCLOS 83(3)
a. Such provisional agreements include joint development of resources as a
mean to prevent conflict regarding resources and increase cooperation
between countries
b. Joint development of resources must be limited to maritime areas which are in
dispute
c. Joint development of resource must be arranged and agreed upon bilaterally
or multilaterally between countries with competing claims
d. Such arrangements include:
i. Joint development of fisheries
ii. Joint development of l resources;
4. Urges ASEAN to formulate and adopt he successor of 2002 Declaration on the
Conduct of Parties in South China Sea, namely the Code of Conduct of Parties in the
South China Sea by the 31 December 2017
a. Code of Conduct should be binding arrangement between China and ASEAN
Countries
b. Code of conduct should state in detail regarding:
i. Framework and mechanism for bilateral and multilateral negotiations
between disputed nations
ii. Military communication mechanisms between China and ASEAN
countries
iii. Implementation of Code on Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES)
iv. Timeline for final delimitation;
5. Condemns third party settlements regarding sovereignty disputes without the consent
of disputing parties;
6. Underlines the importance of peaceful bilateral and multilateral negotiations as well
as constructive dialogues between disputed countries as a means to solve dispute;
7. Decides to send impartial United Nations observers annually in the disputed area for
the next five years in order to perform an assessment of the compliance of the Code
of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the laws set forward in this
resolution.
a. Should laws be found to have been broken, the United Nations Security

Council will form a body composed of the relevant powers in order to discuss
the possibility of sanctions

8. Strongly condemns any violence arising from the South China Sea dispute, including
those made by military officials from disputed nations
9. Decides to remain seized of the matter.