10 - Cooperative mechanism for safety and security of navigation and ocean governance in the South China Sea

Abstract

In the current South China Sea political/geopolitical context, legal and political implications are injected into safety of navigation by lumping them into the concept Sea Lanes of Communications (SLOCs), an otherwise innocuous tool associated with safety and security of navigation through vessel traffic management, the issue of freedom of navigation. These legal/ political implications relating to Safety of Navigation in the South China Sea have been characterised as traditional security issues. A cooperative mechanism to address these issues is necessary but absent. Ocean governance issues are apart from the legal/political aspects referred to above, and characterised as non-traditional security issues. Likewise, in this area there is a total absence of a cooperative mechanism addressing ocean governance issues, although it is a maritime security concern that can be addressed separately. This chapter lays out a proposal for such a cooperative mechanism, which is already contained in UNCLOS Part IX as a general framework, and awaits good sense and the political will to implement.