CHINESE President Xi Jinping and United States President Barack Obama have, for the first time, raised and agreed on the need for an early notification mechanism and a code of conduct between their militaries.
The proposed moves, aimed at boosting mutual trust and preventing accidental clashes, were a topic at their meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the two-day Nuclear Security Summit held in The Hague in the Netherlands.

“Both sides concurred with the need to set up a mechanism to inform each other of major military moves at an early date, and draft a code of conduct to safeguard the security of the navies and air forces on the high seas,” reported the official Xinhua news agency yesterday.

… S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies analyst Hoo Tiang Boon said one trigger for the early notification mechanism could be the surprise launch of the air defence identification zone by China in the East China Sea last November.

He added that the proposed code of conduct, which reportedly will cover both sides’ navies and air forces and spell out rules of engagement, likely stems from a desire to avoid accidental clashes, after a near-collision in the South China Sea between Chinese and American warships in December.