Maritime cooperation in SCS could defuse tensions, but China unyielding –analysts

Joint maritime cooperation initiatives in the disputed South China Sea territories could help manage tensions in the area, analysts said Monday, but warned smaller claimants against giving leverage to China, which has been aggressively pressing its maritime claims on nearly the entire waters.

Cooperation in the South China Sea, according to Jay Batongbacal, Director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines, is an effective mechanism in maintaining maritime security and stability provided that it is enforced in a fair and effective manner.

“Cooperation, yes, but it should be cooperation that creates trust and confidence.  Cooperation that is based on mutual respect and equality, not cooperation for the purpose of taking advantage of a weaker party,” said  Batongbacal.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, China and Taiwan have overlapping claims to the resource-rich features in the South China Sea. China asserts ownership over 90 percent of the waters even as it overlaps with the claims of its smaller neighbors.

An arbitral court in The Hague, Netherlands ruled in favor of the Philippines and nullified China’s massive claim in July 2016.

Batongbacal said activities may not necessarily touch on competing territorial claims, but stressed that any mutual collaboration in the South China Sea “could create that sense of confidence and trust.”

Citing successful initiatives with other governments, Batongbacal said activities could include cooperation on fisheries, law enforcement and marine environment protection, among others.

“We have longstanding cooperation with Malaysia on Turtle Islands and that has worked well and it is one of the existing marine transboundary protected areas in the world. We have good cooperation  with Taiwan on fisheries and law enforcement and it appears that it has been working well despite the political and geopolitical challenges,” he said.

Once a certain level of comfort and confidence is reached, Batongbacal said, claimants may come to a point where they can “sit down and talk sincerely and fairly” and “fairly resolve their disputes.”

Gregory Poling, Director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed that “cooperation is better than confrontation,” but said China’s unwillingness to compromise would not move the process forward.

For the past 25 years, Poling said any efforts forge an effective cooperation venture among claimants have failed due to China’s unyielding position.

“It has been a quarter of a century of absolutely zero movement,” he said.  “Beijing has been consistently unwilling to meet ASEAN halfway or to meet the Philippines halfway on these issues.”

China and the Association of South East Asian Nations are hammering out a code of conduct in the South China Sea to prevent conflicting territorial claims in the vast potentially energy-rich region from erupting into violent confrontations or economically devastating major conflict.

Hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, negotiations have been stalled and precluded face-to-face meetings between ASEAN and Chinese diplomats. 

Apart from the delays caused by the pandemic to the meetings, the 2021 deadline for a final code of conduct envisioned by China seem to be growing difficult each month amid China’s continuing harassment and aggressive actions against other claimants, such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia—all ASEAN members.

These actions have undermined trust and seen to heavily impact on future negotiations for the elusive code.

“With China, our experience has not been very good. We tried everything and I think that’s one of the reasons the government tried to pursue arbitration. There was no movement and the other party became more aggressive in pressing its claims in our waters, creating bigger problems for us,” Batongbacal said. — BM, GMA News