Developments over the past few days reveal the broadening consensus among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China that they, and they alone, are ones who should get their maritime house in order, and they are fully capable of doing so.

Just hours after US President Donald Trump recommended himself to his Vietnamese host as "a very good mediator and arbitrator" for the South China Sea disputes, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and his Vietnamese counterpart reached a consensus on appropriately managing the two neighbors' maritime disputes.

And Premier Li Keqiang announced on Monday that China and the members of ASEAN will officially start negotiations on their planned Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. Agreement on this would provide a means of securing a peaceful external environment for the development of all countries in the neighborhood.