MARITIME DISPUTES GO BEYOND OWNERSHIP

Many claims in Asia-Pacific are the legacy of colonial history

MARITIME disputes between states and international stakeholders in the region are not always about the ownership of territories. The disputes can be over access to the maritime space, including access through sea lanes of communications for international commerce.

For example, some coastal states have disputed the right and freedom of others to use part of the sea under their jurisdiction without permission. There are stakeholders who have expressed an unfounded fear that China could interdict international trade through the South China Sea in peacetime. States compete to protect sea resources. Indonesia and Malaysia are concerned about illegal fishing in their exclusive economic zones.

Since 1999, China has imposed restrictions for fishing in the South China Sea between May and August each year for conservation and sustainability purposes. These policies have not gone unchallenged and have created their security dynamics.

The disputes also revolve around the interpretation of law. For example, many states in the region do not share the United States’ definition of “excessive maritime claims”. They have disputed the US unilateral assertions under the “Freedom of Navigation” (FON) programme against what Washington labels as excessive maritime claims.

The US makes no bones about the real purpose of its FON programme in the South China Sea, that is, to prevent the “emergence of a regional hegemon” (read: China). While US uses law of the sea as the basis for determining excessive maritime claims, it does not recognise the division of the ocean space beyond the territorial sea and the continental shelf.

Under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, the ocean space is divided into internal sea, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and high sea. Washington divides the ocean space into national waters and international waters. This disagreement has created enforcement problems for many coastal states with US vessels.

Many of the territorial disputes in Asia-Pacific are the legacy of colonial history. For example, the disputes over the Northern Territories/Kuril between Russia and Japan could be traced to the aftermath of World War 2.

It was the victorious powers that decided on the surrender terms for Japan. These islands were surrendered to Russia under the Yalta Agreement