The South China Sea and Asia Pacific in Transition: Exploring Options for Managing Disputes

The CSIS Southeast Asia Program hosted its second annual conference on Maritime Security in the South China Sea June 27-28, 2012.

The conference is a timely policy level discussion of the complex and important issues around the South China Sea. The program will take place a week before Secretary of State Clinton departs for the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and Post-Ministerial Conference (PMC) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific Kurt Campbell delivered a keynote speech on Wednesday, June 27 and Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), chairman of the Senate’s Asia Pacific subcommittee, presented a keynote address on Thursday, June 28.  

In addition, CSIS is pleased to have recruited a world-class group of experts from Asia and the United States to initiate the dialogue around five key themes:

• Recent developments in the South China Sea
  
• South China Sea in ASEAN-U.S.-China relations
  
• Assessment of the South China Sea in a changing regional landscape
  
• Role of international law in resolving and managing territorial disputes
  
• Policy recommendations to boost security and cooperation in the South China Sea

Continuing disputes suggest there is a great need and interest to explore security in the South China Sea. We have invited approximately 20 experts to make presentations and will invite senior officials, executives, academics, and members of the media to participate in the dialogue. The full conference agenda is available here. 

Conference Photos