Search result for "Indo-Pacific"

Suggestions for lasting peace in the South China Sea and beyond need to incorporate small and medium states as well

East and Southeast Asia have seen considerable economic growth over the past few decades. The pace of development in China has been virtually unprecedented, with millions of people being raised above severe poverty to a middle-class lifestyle. This outcome has resulted from national investments in human capital and infrastructure and policies that have encouraged business growth and trade. 

Though India has always been seen as a continental power, it is worth remembering that it has a long coastline of 7516.6 kilometers. In the past, Indian influence and customs spread by the sea route to Southeast Asia, East Asia and many other parts of the world. The island of Bali, in Muslim-majority Indonesia is still a Hindu-majority island whereas the state philosophy of Indonesia is Pancasila, which is derived from the Sanskrit words “panca” meaning five and “sila” meaning principles. So why is India paying increased attention to the maritime domain?  

SESSION 6: Challenges and Implications for Conflict Mitigation and/or Dispute Resolution

SESSION 5: International Law, UNCLOS and the Arbitral Tribunal Determination: Retrospect and Prospects

SESSION 4: National interests and the Role of Major and Middle Powers in the SCS

SESSION 3: The SCS and China-US Relations: A Case of Great Power Rivalry, Reluctant Entanglement and/or Strategic Exaggeration?

SESSION 2: Critical security and economic dilemmas for Southeast Asia in the South China Sea

This presentation will focus on two separate and distinct minilateral institutions – the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue Forum (Quad) and AUKUS. The Quad and AUKUS share the same genesis: an impelling strategic concern among their members about the economic and military rise of China in the Indo-Pacific where China has spread its influence primarily through diplomatic, political and economic inducements accompanied by intimidation and coercion in the South China Sea. This presentation will discuss whether these two institutions challenge or reinforce ASEAN’s efforts to promote maritime cooperation.

The 14th South China Sea International Conference titled "Peaceful Sea – Solid Recovery" is expected to be an unique opportunity for participants to comprehensively analyze the state of affairs of the South China Sea and discuss measures to promote maritime cooperation and explore pathways toward the enhancement of security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.

The paper analyzes the intersection of three key currents in Asian geopolitics, namely (i) the emergence Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a fulcrum of pan-regional integration, (ii) the evolution of South China Sea disputes as the preeminent geopolitical conflict of the 21st century, if not the site of the next great war; and, (iii) full commencement of the New Cold War between the United States (US) and China, dispensing with four decades of ‘constructive engagement’ vis-à-vis Beijing. Once seen as the harbinger of an open, inclusive and multilateralist order in the Asia-Pacific, the ASEAN has struggled to assert its ...

South China Sea is the subject of interests far beyond the littoral states, for what happens in the South China Sea would have deep consequences elsewhere. Most states also clearly indicate preference to lawfare to other means of contestation, because a rules-based Indo-Pacific is in the interests of all.

Germany's plan to deploy naval ship in the Indo-Pacific does not change its neutral position in the South China Sea dispute, is a careful practice of international law, and therefore will not erode regional stability nor any littoral country's sovereignty as China might have suggested.

During the course of my recent discussions with Vietnamese interlocutors, one question has recurred: after a period of prolonged quiet in Vietnam-China relations in the South China Sea (SCS), why has Beijing all of a sudden decided to take a stand at Vanguard Bank? And one could easily further ask why at the same time Beijing opened a new front by conducting a major military exercise at the Paracel Islands? I think there are several components to answering these questions. First, although Vanguard Bank represents the worst Vietnam-China tensions in the SCS since the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig standoff in May ...