China and the United States have been urged to work together and lead the way on global ocean governance.
An event held on the Chinese island of Hainan earlier this month heard that progress will not be possible without cooperation between the two superpowers, who were urged not to let regional maritime disputes overshadow efforts to address issues such as piracy, climate change and other environmental threats.
China is embroiled in a number of territorial disputes with neighbouring countries, including the Philippines, and coastguard and other ships from the two countries have been involved in a series of confrontations recently.
“Ocean governance … cannot be done without cooperation between China and the US,” Da Wei, an international relations professor at Tsinghua University, told the Symposium on Global Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance.
“Issues related to ocean governance have been over-securitised in US-China relations. When we talk about the oceans, it is all about security or sovereignty issues, which will lead to a difficult situation for problem-solving.”
Da suggested that China and the US could look to previous examples of cooperation, such as efforts to fight climate change or tackling the Ebola outbreak in Africa almost 10 years ago, when trying to lead the way.
He said that one or two demonstration projects would help this approach, citing the Beijing-based Nuclear Security Centre of Excellence, which is jointly funded by both governments and can train around 2,000 nuclear security staff.
Early this month, officials from China and the US met in Beijing to discuss maritime issues, including disputes in the East and South China Seas.
The US State Department described the talks as “substantive, constructive and candid”, while Beijing said both sides emphasised the need to avoid misunderstandings and misjudgments, and explore mutually beneficial cooperation.
The two-day forum in Hainan was attended by diplomats, officials and academics from more than 20 countries and regions, who discussed issues ranging from ocean governance, maritime cooperation among superpowers, confidence-building in disputed waters, sustainable marine fisheries and polar research.
Stephen Nagy, an international relations professor at International Christian University in Japan, said a maritime cooperation initiative is urgently needed for the South China Sea to tackle issues such as piracy, climate change, overfishing, marine biodiversity and soil salinisation.
“Great powers like China and the US can contribute through the provision of financial aid and hardware resources,” Nagy said.
“The management and direction would be primarily conducted by middle-power members to ensure strategic autonomy of initiatives, but also to craft an apolitical platform for China-US cooperation in the maritime domain.”
The event also heard that joint efforts were needed to protect marine resources in the South China Sea.
Lucio Pitlo, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, said joint efforts were needed to protect marine resources in the South China Sea and suggested rival claimants such as the Philippines and China should work together for the common good.
“Instead of a unilateral imposition, a joint or coordinated annual fishing ban to conserve diminishing fishing stocks can be discussed,” Pitlo said.
“Joint fish stock assessments can also be made by marine scientists and fisheries experts of coastal states.”
He also said countries could agree on the creation of protected marine areas, while China could help neighbouring states such as the Philippines protect marine resources by transferring technology.
Some participants at the event in Hainan called for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to play a greater role.
“Asean needs to act as not just a middle power, but also as an equal third party to define its own region and … ensure peace and stability,” said Zhang Yilun, a research associate at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies.
Zhang said the bloc has traditionally shared good channels of communication with both Beijing and Washington and could act as a trusted third party to pass on information that the two cannot properly share.
Nagy added: “It is important to support the stakeholders to help shape the competition between the US and China, and ensure that their desires, their values, their interests are also at the table, as we think about maritime cooperation and managing these important global resources.”
Source : SCMP