I would like to wish good morning to all of our esteemed guests from abroad and Japan, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for attending today's international conference, 'Securing the Oceans,' hosted by the Institute for Ocean Policy, SOF.

 In recent years, among the sovereign states that make up the international community, there has been an increase of international cooperation based on the pursuit of common interests at the global and regional levels, and in both bi-lateral and multi-lateral forms. Due to this, I think it is fair to say that the collaborative approach is slowly but surely becoming the international norm. However, at the same time as the international community is strengthening its collaborative efforts, it is also a fact that frictions and conflicts still occur. Especially, since the end of the military confrontations of the cold war, conflicts stemming from religious and ethnic problems and poverty conditions have become more common.

 As background to this, we can see that along with the unifying effects and material prosperity brought about by scientific and technological breakthroughs and economic development, there has also been an increase in the gap between rich and poor. Today, the idea that peace is "not simply the absence of conflicts and wars but the presence of conditions that fulfill a variety of humane values," is one that is gaining ever-greater support.

 This definition of peace has also begun to exert an influence on the concept of security, giving rise to the idea that security too should be considered in more comprehensive and pro-active terms. Examples of this are the notions of 'human security' and 'environmental security' so often raised in the United States.

 However, perhaps due to the fact that it is not an area of human habitation and that the Law of the Sea has not yet been sufficiently implemented in a practical sense, serious deliberations have yet to be given to what a new security concept should look like when applied to the oceans that cover seventy percent of our planet.

 As there have recently been major changes in both the legal and policy frameworks regarding the oceans and the actual conditions to be found there, the need for clarifying and implementing a new ocean security concept is an urgent one.

 The Law of the Sea Convention of 1994 expanded coastal states' territorial waters to 12 miles, introduced a new regime in international straits, archipelagic waters, exclusive economic zones, and on the sea bed and ocean floor and a framework for a new order on the oceans requiring each country to protect and conserve the ocean environment. In contrast to the old regime, where encroachment on the high seas was traditionally limited to territorial waters of 3 nautical miles, coastal states' sovereignty and sovereign rights were suddenly extended out to 200 and more miles from the coastline, putting more than 40% of the world's total ocean area under coastal states' jurisdiction. As a result, countries' 'jurisdictions' on the sea often border one another, sometimes even overlapping, with serious consequences for ocean security concepts.

 Furthermore, the Principle of Sustainable Development and Chapter 17 of the Agenda 21 Programme of Action adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, and the WSSD Plan of Implementation adopted ten years later at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, proclaimed that each country has a responsibility for the fate of the planet and reached agreements on common policy frameworks and cooperation in sustainable development of the ocean. Emphasizing the connection between peace and the ocean environment has also had a large influence on ocean security concepts.

 There is also a close linkage between actual conditions and ocean security concepts: for example, while economic development and globalization have meant a continuing increase in maritime transport, it has also given rise to new safety and environmental concerns, with possible effects on people living in coastal areas. The same can be said regarding protection of the environment and sustainable development of marine resources, as well as pollution problems.

 Moreover, as we all know, marine resources, pollution, piracy, terrorism, illegal drugs, smuggling and other criminal activities, are no respecter of legal boundaries, being problems that call not only for responsible governance by individual countries within their jurisdiction, but that must often be dealt with by coordinated cooperation among countries in the region or by coastal and user states.

 Another point we should keep in mind when considering the practical aspects of a new concept for securing the oceans, is the rapid advance in science and technology and its possible application in ocean initiatives. In looking at the areas of ocean monitoring, environmental protection, and maritime transport over the past ten years alone, many new technologies, systems, and networks have been introduced, including the Global Ocean Observing System, environmental sensitive maps, electronic navigational charts, traffic separation systems, mandatory location reporting systems, and automatic vessel identification systems. Also, advances in satellite and communications technologies are creating a new range of possibilities for ocean monitoring, observation, and ocean management. From a technological standpoint then, the integration of security aspects with these various ocean systems, in the creation of comprehensive systems for monitoring, observation, and management, is not a particularly difficult challenge.

 The problem is with our way of thinking. It is a question of whether or not the leaders and people in a country wish to take part in such a comprehensive, international system. Countries and ocean related organizations agreed to adopt the technologies, systems, and networks I spoke of earlier because they met certain needs. In other words, they were adopted because they were considered to be in the interests of peoples and states.

 At present however, when security issues are brought into the question, most countries are extremely cautious in regard to their sovereignty. This issue is an especially sensitive one for Asian countries, many of which gained their independence only in the last half of the twentieth century. I believe there is a need, therefore, to begin by articulating a new security concept that is comprehensive and pro-active, that is based on the interests of all states, and that meets the needs they have in common. While this seems a formidable task if we look only at states' insistence on their sovereignty, we should remember that there also exists a trend to improve national administration and even security by strengthening regional cooperation, especially in South-East Asia. Furthermore, if the search for a better security policy remains a major issue in future, and if the notion of meeting the common interest is sufficiently understood, then I believe assent to the concept of 'Securing the Ocean' might be attained. Taking the common interest' as keywords, I hope we can make strong efforts in this direction.

 I would now like to say a few words about the conference program and the ideas we had in mind in making our preparations. I would also like to ask for your cooperation on the following points.

 Firstly, it goes without saying, that even a comprehensive and pro-active ocean security concept will be greatly influenced by actual conditions in each country and region, but unless it meets actual needs it will not gain the support of the leadership and general population of coastal countries. For this reason, it is the opinion of the organizers, that we can best formulate this new ocean security concept by thinking how it might be actually applied in a particular geographic area. The kind of area we have in mind would be one traversed by major sea lanes, have a rich and diverse marine environment that plays an important role in the lives of the local people, and where security tends to be a 'hot issue' for various reasons. We have tentatively given the name of 'HASA' to these hypothetical places: Highly Accessed Sea Areas.

 Areas which share these characteristics are to be found in the regional seas of South East Asia, where the Pacific and Asia sea lanes meet, where the local people benefit from a rich marine environment, but where piracy and terrorism are also serious problems.

 In short, it has been with the aim of articulating a new ocean security concept applicable to these HASA areas that we have called upon experts in security, environmental, and sea use issues from various countries and institutes well acquainted with this region to present papers and serve as panelists. Of course, this new 'Securing the Oceans' concept should not be limited to the geographical areas I've mentioned, but that is the image we had in mind when organizing the conference, so I would ask you to be generous in expressing constructive opinions based on your own knowledge and experience that would be useful in meeting the aim of the conference stated above, especially using practical examples from the South China Sea, Malacca Straits, and neighboring areas in your discussions.

 Another request concerns your papers and presentations. We greatly appreciated your prompt submission of such informative and challenging papers, which we have since distributed to all participants. In the interests of time and lively discussions however, I would ask that your presentations go beyond introducing your paper's arguments, adding as far as possible news of exciting initiatives that are addressing the current needs of countries and organizations. It is my hope that some consensus can be reached today and tomorrow on a new concept for 'Securing the Oceans' and that your lively discussions will point out practical steps for its implementation.

 Today's experts are from the eight countries of Australia, China, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, the United States, and Japan, as well as the International Maritime Organization and PEMSEA. We are also happy to have many people from ocean and security related fields participating as observers.

 I am very much looking forward to how our discussions will unfold today and tomorrow and sincerely appreciate your cooperation in making this international conference a fruitful one. As we now get underway, please accept my best wishes for the success of your deliberations. Thank you for your attention.

　

　

Professor, Graduate School of Law and Politics, University of Tokyo

　

　

 The concept of "Securing the Ocean" provides a perspective on approaches to common problems in Ocean Governance and Integrated Management of the Ocean. In this perspective, land- and sea-based issues are linked, as issues such as resources, pollution and maritime terrorism are complex problems confronting both safety on the seas and safety on land. Today's world requires a balance between the interests of those using the sea and the safety of populations on land. Consensualism and flag-state control, two principles that evolved in support of the traditional maritime order, are now at a major turning point. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea already provides for the establishment of exclusive economic zones (EEZs) to overcome some of the limitations of flag-state control, with a mechanism for enforcement by coastal states to protect and preserve the marine environment. However, the EEZ system is increasingly threatened by flag-state control of the high seas that lie beyond the EEZs. The countries of the world are developing a number of agreements to overcome the practical difficulties of flag-state control; these include revisions to the SUA Treaty to address problems in regulating catches of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks, regulate illegal, unregulated and/or unreported fisheries by vessels of countries not signatory to the United Nations Convention on Ocean Fishing Operations and prevent terrorism at sea; and the Proliferation Security Initiative, promoted by the United States to obstruct the spread of weapons of mass destruction. A system of marine protection areas has also been proposed. In many cases these proposals shift the emphasis from interests at sea to interests on land. In this report, the author examines the possibilities of a new order in the use of the sea as he discusses recent developments in regulation of human activities at sea.