Code of Conduct Negotiation in the South China Sea—Lacking Will or Skill?

YCAPS and The Sasakawa Peace Foundation are excited to announce our next event in Sasebo. This event will feature Dr. Yoichiro Sato, who will lead us in a discussion on the code of conduct negotiations in the South China Sea. After Dr. Sato's presentation, Mr. William Yale, Surface Warfare Officer, U.S. Navy has been kind enough to join us as a discussant and will provide comments and perspective to help kick off the Q&A portion of the event.

More than twenty years have passed since the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in 2002 launched an official negotiation towards signing of a binding code of conduct. The negotiation intermittently slowed and picked up pace as various events in the South China Sea and the changes in broader strategic contexts inevitably affected the negotiation. This talk will raise issues and consider whether China's intentional foot-dragging is the main cause of the prolonged negotiation.

All are welcome and free food and refreshments will be provided.

Please use this link to register for the event.

Schedule:

• 17:30-18:15 - Welcome reception (food & drinks). Feel free to show up anytime during the reception.
• 18:15-19:30 - Seminar and Q&A.
• 19:30-19:45 - Optional casual networking and chatting/wrap up.

Location:

Machinaka Community Center: Conference Room

5-5 Tokiwacho, Sasebo, Nagasaki 857-0053

Google Map

Speaker:

Professor Yoichiro Sato holds a BA (Law) from Keio University, MA (International Studies) from University of South Carolina,
and Ph.D (Political Science) from University of Hawaii. He currently teaches at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and is the dean of the Department and the Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies. His major works include The Rise of China and International Security (co-edited with Kevin Cooney, Routledge, 2008), The U.S.-Japan Security Alliance (co-edited with Takashi Inoguchi and G. John Ikenberry, Palgrave, 2011), Regional Institutions, Geopolitics and Economics in the Asia Pacific (co-edited with Steve Rothman and Utpal Vyas, Routledge, 2017), Re-Rising Japan (co-edited with Hidekazu Sakai, Peter Lang, 2017), Identity, Culture and Memory in Japanese Foreign Policy (co-edited with Michal Kolmaš, Peter Lang, 2021), and Handbook of Indo-Pacific Studies (co-edited with Barbara Kratiuk, Jeroen Van den Bosch, and AleksandraJaskólska, Routledge, 2023).

Discussant:

William Yale is a Surface Warfare Officer in the US Navy, currently stationed in Sasebo. Prior to commissioning in the Navy, he worked at the CNA Corporation, the SAIS Foreign Policy Institute (FPI), the American Security Project (ASP), US Naval War College, and the State Department. He graduated from Johns Hopkins SAIS with an MA in Strategic Studies and International Economics, and from Trinity College with a BA in Public Policy & Law. He also attended the Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC), and studied Mandarin for a year in Beijing at Beijing Foreign Studies University and Minzu University of China.

Event Cost: Free of charge

Location: Machinaka Community Center Conference Room: 5-5 Tokiwacho, Sasebo, Nagasaki 857-0053

Google Maps: Here

Moderator: Jeff Mazziotta

Registration: Optional via this link.