Chinese and United States warships sailing together during a training exercise off Hawaii in 2013. Both countries signed the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea in 2014.[1]

The Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) is an agreement reached at the 2014 Western Pacific Naval Symposium to reduce the chance of an incident at sea between the countries in the agreement, and — in the event that one occurs — to prevent it from escalating. Twenty one countries have joined the agreement, including Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Tonga, the United States and Vietnam.[1][2] Taiwan, a non-signatory state also reportedly implements the agreement.[3]

CUES had been proposed a decade earlier, but China opposed earlier versions, because of references to potential legal standing.[4]

History

In December 2014, the People's Liberation Army Navy and the United States Navy practiced CUES during an anti-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden.[5]

During her 2015 deployment to the South China Sea, USS Fort Worth encountered several warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy, putting the new CUES rules into practice in a "professional" manner.[6]

Provisions

CUES is an agreement, but it is not legally binding.[7]

Erik French of the Center for Strategic and International Studies has said that the voluntary nature of CUES and its limitation to purely military naval forces limit its usefulness in the Asia Pacific region.[8]

The agreement discourages aviators from making "unfriendly physical gestures" towards one another.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Member nations of Western Pacific Naval Symposium in China agree to maritime code of conduct". ABC News. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Document: Conduct for Unplanned Encounters at Sea". U.S. Naval Institute. June 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ DeAeth, Duncan (27 April 2019). "Taiwan and Philippine navies have unexpected encounter at sea". Taiwan News. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Tiezzi, Shannon (April 24, 2014). "Small But Positive Signs at Western Pacific Naval Symposium". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "China, US navies implement code of conduct". www.chinadaily.com.cn. China Daily. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Littoral Combat Ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) Completes South China Sea Patrol". Navyrecognition.com. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "Navy Leaders Agree to Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea at 14th Western Pacific Naval Symposium". www.pacom.mil. United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  8. ↑ French, Erik (4 May 2015). "Improving Order in the East China Sea". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "The US and Chinese armies struggle to learn how to talk to each other". The Economist. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.

Further reading

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