Chinese moves in the South China Sea have been relatively quiet in recent months as President Xi Jinping consolidates the gains he has already achieved. A group of respected academics and experts on the South China Sea issue, speaking at a seminar in Hong Kong jointly organized by Bloomberg, Chatham House and Hong Kong’s Lingnan University on 1 December, predicted that this is likely continue for the foreseeable future.

Li Mingjiang, coordinator of the China Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, also spoke at the Hong Kong seminar. Addressing the endorsement of a Framework on the Code of Conduct (CoC) between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on 6 August 2017, Li asked two pertinent questions. One is why China is willing to engage with Southeast Asia on a CoC, and the second is what impact will a CoC have on China’s behavior?