The sea is the cradle of life, the treasure-house of resources, and the important adjuster of global environment, and is the foundation of the survival and sustainable development of mankind. The sea occupies a significant position in the Asia Pacific, and is the central component of the region. Southeast Asia has a vast span of water with the South China Sea extending over 1800 miles from Sumatra to Taiwan linking the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. The shores of Northeast Asian countries are washed by the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, and in a broad sense by the Pacific Ocean.

The Asian Pacific security is very much concerned with maritime issues. Recent security-related events in the region such as the sinking of an unknown ship in the East China Sea mainly involve maritime security. Regional maritime security issues include: maritime jurisdictional disputes; insecurities of SLOCs (sea lines of communication), especially sea piracy and threats from international terrorism; maritime environmental pollution; and freedom of navigation versus resource-related rights of coastal states in EEZs. International maritime security cooperation accords with national interests of all regional countries.

　

Maritime jurisdictional disputes embrace islands' sovereignty disputes and the delimitation disputes on the EEZs and continental shelves. Regarding competing sovereignty claims, in Northeast Asian waters, there is the contention between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Dao/Senkaku Islands, between Japan and South Korea over the Dok-Do/Takeshima, and between Japan and Russia over the Northern Islands. In Southeast Asian waters. the most contentious issue is the multi-claimed Nansha/Spratly Islands; and there is the dispute between Malaysia and Singapore over the island of Pulau Batu Putih in the Straits of Johore, and between Malaysia and Indonesia over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan in the Celebes Sea.

The islands' sovereignty is a very sensitive issue, and can easily arouse nationalist feelings in related countries. The modus vivendi at present is to have it shelved. In my view, the increasing political and economic interdependence in the region will exercise positive influences on the orientation of nationalism and make East Asians more conciliatory for the settlement of regional islands' sovereignty disputes. The disputes could then either be settled by bilateral agreements or be put to the International Court of Justice for adjudication.

Regarding the maritime delimitation issue, according to the 200nm EEZ stipulations in LOSC (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea), it should not be difficult to have each other's EEZ demarcated; but due to the islands' sovereignty disputes and disagreements on islands' entitlements, not much progress has been made. As to continental shelf delimitation, difficulties exist due to the application of different principles (the equidistant line of the natural prolongation land territory). But again in my view, with the increasing interdependence, the issue could be settled earlier than expected. The agreement on the demarcation of the Tonkin Gulf between China and Vietnam serves as an example.

　

　

It's in China's long-term interests to solve the existing maritime disputes with its neighbours. In a position paper distributed in Brunei to ASEAN members in early August 2002, China says that it is vigorously seeking to settle disputes with its neighbours through peaceful negotiations, and that "Disputes over territory, on land and at sea, are no longer an obstacle to China and its neighbours, cooperating, being good neighbours, and building regional security together."¹ China signed three bilateral agreements on fishing rights in 2000 with Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture estimated that one million people in the fishing and fish- processing industries would lose their jobs as a result of the three agreements, which would reduce China's annual catch by roughly one million tons.

　

Shipping routes are the life-lines of East Asian economies. Being mostly export-oriented and resource-deficient, East Asian countries are heavily dependent on seaborne trade, and SLOC security has been a fundamental factor contributing to East Asian economic development. High trade volumes have led to significant Asian interests in developing merchant fleets and shipping facilities. Asian countries own 34% and manufacture 72% of the world's merchant fleet tonnage. The container trade in East Asian ports has consistently registered growth. Of the 20 largest container shipping lines in the world, half are owned and based in East Asia. Generally, crude oil is the biggest single cargo in terms of volume through the regional SLOCs, while finished consumer goods are the dominating cargo in terms of value. At present, oil imports account for almost 60% of Asian oil consumption, and by 2010 oil import dependence is projected to increase to at least 75%.

East Asian SLOCs are constricted at several key straits, and regional sea-lines are highly vulnerable to disruption in any one of these straits. The straits located in Southeast Asia are the Malacca, Sunda, Lombok, and Makassar straits; and the straits in Northeast Asia are the Tsushima, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Soya (La Perouse) straits. More than half of the world's annual merchant fleet tonnage passes through the straits of Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok. The Strait of Malacca presently has as many as 250-275 ship movements in both directions per day. A large portion of this traffic consists of oil tankers on their way from the Middle East to East Asian countries." About 26 tankers, including three fully loaded supertankers heading for Asian ports, pass through the strait daily."² An average of 9.5 million barrels of oil transit the Strait everyday. Japan is the largest user of the Malacca Strait, followed by South Korea, China, and China's Taiwan. Tankers using the waterway by 2010 will be two to three times more numerous than they are today, making it the world's largest transshipment port.

For years, non-traditional threats such as sea piracy, drug trafficking, illegal migration and arms smuggling have been rampant in East Asian waters, affecting SLOC security. Among them, sea piracy has especially been a serious threat. In today's term, piracy could be called maritime terror. "Estimates of losses to piracy and maritime fraud run as high as US$ 16 billion a year."³ Piracy "hot spots" are: the straits of Malacca and Sunda, offshore Vietnam and Cambodia, the Hong Kong-Luzon-Hainan (HLH) triangle, the area around the Philippines, the Indonesian archipelagic waters, the area north of Taiwan, and the Yellow Sea areas. Piracy and armed robbery in Southeast Asia has generally accounted for about 60 % of the total reported piracy in the world. According to IMB (the International Maritime Organization), the number of acts of piracy between 1998 and 1999 jumped by 47%; and pirate attacks in 2000 rose by 57 percent to 469 incidents worldwide, and more than two thirds of such attacks occurred in Asian waters, of which 75 were in the Malacca Strait. Though the number of attacks worldwide in 2001 fell 29% from 2000 to 335, the figure is still high.

There have been three common strategies in pirate attacks. The first approach involves simple theft at sea, a second targets the cargo in the ship's hold, and a third is to steal the ship itself. The third approach is called "phantom ship attack", which involves a number of serious associated crimes, including hijacking and the fraudulent registration of vessels. Highly organized and sophisticated criminal syndicates are involved in the theft of vessels and the subsequent disposal of cargo. Attacks can be planned in one nation and carried out by the nationals of a second country in the waters of a third, and the proceeds can then be disposed of rapidly in a fourth.

There are several problems that need to be solved in anti-piracy efforts by regional countries. One problem is the definition of piracy. Under LOSC, piracy is limited to an illegal act committed on the high seas. As the majority of attacks are occurring within territorial waters and EEZs, they fall outside the official definition of piracy. Another is the lack of national law on acts of piracy and maritime violence. Even when suspects are caught, many countries lack the legislation to prosecute them. The third problem is the sphere of different jurisdiction over waters. The restrictions on cross-jurisdictional rights written into most of regional countries' maritime agreements have undermined the regional fight against piracy. Given the sensitivities in the region regarding maritime jurisdiction and sovereignty, there has been a conspicuous absence of cross-jurisdictional arrangements between the region's coastal states. In a number of instances, pirates have used this legal gap to their advantage, deliberately fleeing to territorial/archipelago waters, or to areas of contested jurisdiction, where it is most risky for naval vessels to operate unilaterally.

One thing worth notice is the expansion of international terrorism in sea piracy in East Asia. International terrorism has already been related to East Asian extremists and separatists, and may further deceit and make use of those young, unemployed and depressed extreme nationalists to achieve its vicious aims. As Philippine Foreign Minister Teofisto Guingona said, "International maritime terrorism is sometimes linked to the secessionist aspirations of some elements in society, or simply Muslim militancy."⁴ As piracy is a hotbed of terrorism, the ongoing spread of international terrorism might easily take East Asian seas as its target, participate in piracy and menace regional maritime security.

Maritime authorities have warned that international crime syndicates are being drawn to the lucrative piracy activity in Southeast Asian waters, and that oil tankers and ships carrying liquefied natural gas can be targets for use in suicide missions. Besides, procurement and transport of terrorist material through sea routes have been described as a real possibility, as sea freight is harder to detect than air and overland cargo. Information from IMB shows that the Al-Qa'idah terrorist network has been involved in piracy incidents in the Straits of Malacca, and Al-Qa'idah is after fissile material, possibly to assemble crude nuclear devices.⁵

China is now one of the major players on the East Asian SLOC scene. China cannot afford to defend SLOCs by itself, and prefers to maintain the status quo and to enjoy the free ride. China, being a signatory to the 1988 Rome Convention on illegal acts in shipping, is willing to play its part in regional combat against piracy, and is also willing to participate in multilateral efforts in the fight against piracy. China has taken actions to crack down on pirates and on corrupt officials in the southern provinces since early 1999, and has set up in September 2002 the Anti-Terrorism Bureau in the Central Government in charge of nation-wide anti-terrorism combat. However, China has to make further efforts in its combat against piracy. Present laws have no provision dealing with piracy crimes, and the term "sea piracy" does not even exist in the laws. Thus legal loophole emerge in handling relevant cases.

　

Maritime environment affects the subsistence of mankind, and developing countries like China have realized the importance of environmental protection in their economic developments. The UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 adopted Agenda 21, which places maritime exploitation and protection on the agenda as one of the global sustainable development strategies.

Marine environmental degradation in East Asia is a serious problem, and threatens ecological environment, global climate, and marine living resources. Marine environment pollution includes land-based sources of marine pollution, vessel source pollution, hydrocarbon pollution, decline of vulnerable marine animals, etc. A major concern is the possibility of a catastrophic oil spill. The first major oil pollution incident in the Sea of Japan was the 6,400 tons spilled from the wrecked tanker Juliana. Then a South Korean spill of 80 tons of bunker-C in 1987 when a tanker was wrecked 40 miles off Inchon Harbor. In the heavily trafficked straits such as the Malacca Strait, there are frequent worries about the danger of a major oil spill seriously disrupting, or even closing the strait. Another source of tanker-related oil pollution is the discharge of tank washings. Approximately 1,000 tons, or 300,000 gallons one single voyage of a 200,000 ton tanker may be discharged into the sea with tank washings.

In China's case, rapid population growth, over-exploitation of resources, serious environmental pollution have led to an "unprecedented ecological crisis". The ocean environment pollution is serious, especially in the bays, estuaries and sea areas adjacent to mid- and large-size coastal cities. The environmental quality of sea areas near coastal cities, river mouths and bays has been degrading year by year. According to the statistics by the Chinese Oceanic Administration, there are 217 major sources of waste water dumping on the coast, and some 8.6 billion tons of untreated waste water annually flows into the sea from these outlets. The land-based pollutants make up more than 80% of total pollutants entering the sea while sea-based pollutants cover 15-20%. Approximately 50% of the land-based pollutants are discharged into the East China Sea, 21% into the South China Sea, and 16% into the Buhai Sea, and 12% into the Yellow Sea. The ecological environment thus is being destroyed. For example, in Hainan Province where coral reefs range along 25% of the coast, 80% have now been destroyed, with coral reefs on some parts of the coast having almost disappeared. China has realized the seriousness of the problem, and will devote more efforts in environmental protection in the coming decade. By 2005, the trend of the deterioration of ecology will be contained, and the discharge capacity of main pollutants will be reduced by 10% in comparison with 2000. Recently China has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, and hopes other developed countries could soon ratify it to let it become effective by the end of the year.⁶