Maritime Security In The South China Sea

Maritime security is of vital importance to the South China Sea, a critical sea route for maritime transport of East Asian countries including China. The adjacent countries have rendered overlapping territorial and/or maritime claims in the South China Sea which complicate the situation of maintaining maritime security and developing regional cooperation there. This book focuses on contemporary maritime security in the South China Sea as well as its connected sea area, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. It identifies and examines selected security issues concerning the safety of navigation, crackdown on transnational crimes including sea piracy and maritime terrorism, and conflict prevention and resolution. In the context of non-traditional security, issues such as maritime environmental security and search and rescue at sea are included. The book explores ways and means of international cooperation in dealing with these maritime security issues.

"This volume examines the South China Sea's regional security dynamics, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for both littoral and non-littoral states. The South China Sea is a vital pathway for the great container ships and tankers, as well as for the naval vessels of today. Indeed, the security of the contemporary global economy is reliant more than ever upon the dependability of freedom of navigation through the waters of the South China Sea. This volume concentrates on the security of the South China Sea sub-region. It is designed to help illuminate the contemporary security dynamics within this important sub-region by highlighting its development, the contemporary challenges and opportunities confronting both the littoral states and the non-littoral powers that are active in the sub-region, and the policy responses of those states as they seek to defend and promote their national interests. This book is composed of 16 chapters and is organized into five thematic sections. Part I of the book is designed to set the historical context. Part II examines some of the contemporary challenges and opportunities that present themselves in the sub-region, while Part III focuses on Chinese policy in the South China Sea sub-region. Parts IV and Part V analyse and evaluate the contemporary policies of the various littoral and non-littoral powers that are active in the South China Sea sub-region. The collective analyses and assessments of the contemporary perceptions and policies of the various littoral and non-littoral powers active in the South China Sea in response to the traditional and non-traditional challenges within the sub-region that are examined in the chapters contained in Parts III, IV, and V, framed against the material presented in Parts I and II, provides the basis for observations concerning areas of conflicting and coinciding interests in the concluding chapter of the book. This book will be of interest to students of the South China Sea, maritime security, Asian politics, and International Relations"--

While there is abundant literature discussing non-traditional security issues, there is little mention of such issues existing in the South China Sea. This area is vulnerable to natural hazards and marine environmental degradation. The marine ecosystem is threatened by various adverse sources including land-based pollution, busy shipping lanes, and over-exploitation activities which threaten the security of the surrounding population. This area is also threatened by piracy and maritime crimes but law enforcement becomes difficult due to unclear maritime boundaries. This volume is designed to explore the security cooperation and regional approaches to these non-traditional security issues in the hope to build a peaceful environment and maintain international and regional security and order in the South China Sea region.

Bringing together international experts, this collection provides fresh perspectives on geopolitical concerns in the South China Sea. It is an accessible, even-handed examination of current and future rivalries and challenges in one of the most strategically important and militarized maritime regions of the world.

The South China Sea is arguably one of the world’s most dangerous regions, with conflicting diplomatic, legal, and security claims by major and mid-level powers. To assess these disputes, CSIS brought together an international group of experts—from Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. This volume gathers these experts’ analyses to provide a diverse and wide-ranging set of perspectives on the region and to explore possibilities for future cooperation.

The South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as a theatre of political, economic, and security concerns not only for the countries in the region but also for the world at large. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the SCS issue is not about contestation over territory or control over resources alone. With military facilities including airstrips and artificial islands or structures being built in the area, concerns about freedom of navigation and the right to innocent passage have also become an overwhelming security issue and made the SCS region a flashpoint which, according to many assessments, can lead to confrontations including those involving conventional military means. Disruption of maritime passage could also hamper trade and commerce with very negative impacts on the economic development of the region and other countries. It is now being held that China could also be using the SCS disputes as part of a consorted effort to deflect geo-political pressures on account of the COVID-19 pandemic-related cover-ups and misinformation.This book explores the historical and strategic context of the South China Sea disputes and makes an assessment of the implications of the same for freedom of navigation and other regimes at sea.

"The first CIUA Arctic/Asia-Pacific Maritime Workshop was held in September 2011 at the University of Alberta, with the theme of 'Canada, US and China Relations in Maritime Security: The Arctic and the South China Sea-Sharpened Competition or Collaboration?' An edited book titled 'Maritime Security Issues in the South China Sea and the Arctic: Sharpened Competition or Collaboration?' was published in 2012 based on the conference proceeding." --