CCTV4: CMG Launches Expert Committee on South China Sea Studies and Releases Southeast Asia Perceptions Report on the South China Sea

BEIJING, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 29, China Media Group launched the Expert Committee on South China Sea Studies in Sanya, Hainan Province, China. The Committee brings together 28 leading experts and professionals from institutions including the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of History, the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS) , the Huayang Research Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific (BRICAP), and the  Institute for China-Indonesia Partnership Studies. Committed to advancing peace and development in the South China Sea through rational, impartial, and objective advocacy, the Committee pools intellectual resources to contribute expertise and momentum for regional stability and cooperation.

Wu Shicun, Member of the Committee and Chairman of Huayang Research Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, stated that CMG Expert Committee on South China Sea Studies brings together multidisciplinary and multinational experts specializing in marine-related research, and that this new collaboration mechanism and platform will elevate policy discussions and intellectual exchanges in the South China Sea region to new heights.

Ong Tee Keat, also Member of the Committee and former Minister of Transport of Malaysia, as well as President of the Belt and Road Initiative Caucus for Asia Pacific, remarked that China-ASEAN cooperation serves as a successful model of regional integration and multilateralism, and that the launch of the Committee is highly timely. Peter T.C. Chang, Member of the Committee and visiting senior fellow, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, emphasized that Southeast Asian nations should determine their regional destiny independently and autonomously by upholding the principle of an "ASEAN-centric" order.

On the same day, CMG also launched the Southeast Asia Perceptions Report on the South China Sea. Academically supported by the Global Public Opinion Research Center at Renmin University of China, the report analyses public opinion polls and sentiment data collected from citizens in six Southeast Asian countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The findings indicate that the people of these nations have expressed a high level of recognition for resolving the South China Sea issues through diplomatic channels and dialogue. They are generally wary and concerned about external forces' intervention in the South China Sea. They also look forward to cooperation with China in the region.

Link of Southeast Asia Perceptions Report on the South China Sea：

https://vscs.cri.cn/20250331/286f89b8-1a24-cf90-291b-64d8f85083c0.html

source: CCTV4