East Asian Maritime Security
in the Context of the US-China Rivalry

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      • The Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS) hosted this webinar to discuss in-depth the current maritime security challenges in East Asia.
        
        
        • • • 　East Asia is a large seascape.  As Japan and other regional countries depend much on the maritime space for their survival and prosperity, it is critically important to maintain the rules-based maritime international order.  The most serious challenge is China’s maritime expansion in the absence of any overarching multilateral security frameworks in the region.  China tries to alter the status quo not only by the PLA Navy but also by its maritime law-enforcement organization and even by maritime militia under the disguise of civilian fishermen.  The gray zone warfare China has been engineering is not easy for any single country to deter or counter all by itself.  Unity of international efforts cannot be overstated.
                 The historic ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea dispute is becoming just a history in the minds of the international public.  China’s coercive activities in the vicinity of Japan’s Senkaku Islands have been continuing even when the entire world has to be united in order to fight against the pandemic.  In this situation, it is increasingly important for the international community to share the correct recognition on the security situations in East Asia and also to be reminded of the importance of the principle of the rule of law.
                 Creation of a number of minilateral initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region such as the Quad and AUKUS is also noteworthy in this context.  The region may become more stable by intertwining these smaller cooperative frameworks, rather than by trying to establish an overarching framework from scratch.
                 With these as the backdrop, this webinar looked into Beijing’s grand strategic objectives in the maritime realm as well as their implications for the region.  Based on shared recognition on these points among the experts, the webinar sought to address how we should and can counter this existential challenge.
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                 Five prominent experts from Germany, Singapore and Japan discussed the current situation of the maritime security in East Asia. These experts are;

        • -  Professor Ken Endo, Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Hokkaido

          -  Dr. Alexandra Sakaki, Deputy Head of Research Division, German Institute for International and Security Affairs

          -  Professor Mariko Kawano, School of Law, Waseda University

          -  Dr. Collin Koh Swee Lean, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

          • Professor Hideshi Tokuchi, President of the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS), moderated the webinar.
            
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