Taiwan offers model for ending sea disputes

The success secured by a Taiwan proposed initiative in ending 40 years of territorial disputes between Taipei and Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea can be replicated in the South China Sea to help solve the lingering maritime row between neighboring countries.

This idea has recently been floated by Taiwanese officials, spearheaded by no less than Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou.

However, the effectiveness

of the East China Sea Peace Initiative in helping solve the South China Sea dispute has been questioned by one of the foremost foreign affairs and economic analyst in the Philippines.

Sharing resources

The initiative was first proposed by President Ma in August, 2012 amid escalating territorial disputes between Taiwan and Japan over Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea.

The Diaoyutais, called the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China, lie about 100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan. They have been under Japan’s administrative control since 1972, but are also claimed by Taiwan and China.

The peace initiative is based on the concept that while sovereignty is indivisible, resources can be shared. Therefore, the proposal calls upon the parties concerned to replace confrontation with dialogue, shelve territorial disputes through negotiations, formulate a Code of Conduct in the disputed area and engage in joint development, conservation, management, exploration and exploitation of resources.

The proposal eventually paved the way for Taiwan and Japan to sign the fishery agreement to address fishing disputes in waters surrounding the disputed East China Sea.

Under the terms of the agreement, both Taiwanese and Japanese fishermen are allowed to operate freely in a designated area.

Model for South China Sea

The historic fishery agreement signed in 2013, the TECO official said, can serve as a model for promoting regional stability despite conflicting maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Following this success, President Ma himself proposed that his peace initiative be used to help sove the lingering South China Sea territorial dispute.

“We want to extend the spirit of the initiative to the South China Sea,” the Taiwanese leader was quoted as saying. “By upholding the principles of safeguarding sovereignty and sharing resources, we can ease the tensions in the area and achieve the goal of joint development.”

Is China in control?

Prof. Richard Heydarian of the Ateneo de Manila’s Political Science department, however, expressed reservation over the proposal to use the Taiwan peace initiative in resolving the South China Sea row.

“The concept of joint development makes sense in principle, but the devil is in the details,” Heydarian told Manila Bulletin in a text message over the weekend. “If it means that China keeps whatever it has, and then pushes with joint development in areas controlled by others, then this is neither desirable nor feasible.”

“But if joint development means a freeze on construction and naval patrols in contested waters, and joint exploration in least contested areas, then it is a viable option,” he added.

Still, Heydarian, a specialist in Asian geopolitical and economic affairs, expressed doubts if China is open to any meaningful compromise at this point, or at least not until 2016 onwards.

“It seems China’s posturing in the South China Sea has gained a momentum of its own, and I am not sure if (Chinese President) Xi Jinping is willing to risk any political capital to slow things down,” he stressed.

Heydarian, a regular resource speaker on Asian affairs in local and international conferences, also pointed out that his reservations over the effectiveness of the initiative in helping solve the South China Sea dispute is anchored in the decades-old concept of the “one China policy.”