Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea
{{Short description|2014 agreement on maritime incidents}}
{{redirect|CUES|"cues" and "CUEs"|Cue (disambiguation)}}
{{Context|date=July 2020}}
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.{{cite news |date=23 April 2014 |title=Member nations of Western Pacific Naval Symposium in China agree to maritime code of conduct |work=ABC News |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-22/an-asia-pacific-nations-agree-to-maritime-accord/5405104 |accessdate=16 May 2015}}{{cite web |date=June 17, 2014 |title=Document: Conduct for Unplanned Encounters at Sea |publisher=U.S. Naval Institute |url=http://news.usni.org/2014/06/17/document-conduct-unplanned-encounters-sea}} Taiwan, a non-signatory state also reportedly implements the agreement.{{cite news |last=DeAeth |first=Duncan |date=27 April 2019 |title=Taiwan and Philippine navies have unexpected encounter at sea |work=Taiwan News |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3689275 |accessdate=29 April 2019}}
CUES had been proposed a decade earlier, but China opposed earlier versions, because of references to potential legal standing.{{cite news |last=Tiezzi |first=Shannon |date=April 24, 2014 |title=Small But Positive Signs at Western Pacific Naval Symposium |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=The Diplomat |url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/04/small-but-positive-signs-at-western-pacific-naval-symposium/ |accessdate=15 May 2015}}
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.{{cite news |date=13 December 2014 |title=China, US navies implement code of conduct |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn |publisher=China Daily |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2014-12/13/content_19077725.htm |accessdate=15 May 2015}}
During her 2015 deployment to the South China Sea, {{USS|Fort Worth|LCS-3|6}} encountered several warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy, putting the new CUES rules into practice in a "professional" manner.{{cite news |date=14 May 2015 |title=Littoral Combat Ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) Completes South China Sea Patrol |website=Navyrecognition.com |url=http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2715 |accessdate=14 May 2015}}
Provisions
CUES is an agreement, but it is not legally binding.{{cite news |date=23 April 2014 |title=Navy Leaders Agree to Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea at 14th Western Pacific Naval Symposium |website=www.pacom.mil |publisher=United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations |url=http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/tabid/5693/Article/564121/navy-leaders-agree-to-code-for-unplanned-encounters-at-sea-at-14th-western-paci.aspx |accessdate=15 May 2015}}
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.{{cite news |last=French |first=Erik |date=4 May 2015 |title=Improving Order in the East China Sea |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=The Diplomat |url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/improving-order-in-the-east-china-sea/ |accessdate=15 May 2015}}
The agreement discourages aviators from making "unfriendly physical gestures" towards one another.{{cite news |date=22 December 2018 |title=The US and Chinese armies struggle to learn how to talk to each other |publisher=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2018/12/22/the-us-and-chinese-armies-struggle-to-learn-how-to-talk-to-each-other |accessdate=3 January 2019}}
See also
References
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Further reading
- {{cite web |date=June 17, 2014 |title=Document: Conduct for Unplanned Encounters at Sea |publisher=U.S. Naval Institute |url=http://news.usni.org/2014/06/17/document-conduct-unplanned-encounters-sea}}
External links
- http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/tabid/5693/Article/564121/navy-leaders-agree-to-code-for-unplanned-encounters-at-sea-at-14th-western-paci.aspx
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-23/pacific-navies-approve-conduct-code-for-unplanned-sea-encounters