Countries struggle with capacity constraints and sensitive maritime claims in dealing with a host of transnational maritime security challenges in ...
SINGAPORE: Two reports over the past week that concerned the South China Sea had been striking in contrast.
The pirates managed to flee with US$13,000 and crews’ personal belongings while two sailors sustained minor injuries. A total of 28 incidents were reported throughout the region in the first half of 2019, which represents a decline compared to 41 incidents in the same period last year, according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia.This might have given the impression that all has been well.
In fact, for a long time, Southeast Asian government forces have had to stretch limited capacities to police those waters and respond to incidents at sea. Likewise, Malaysia finds itself hobbled with similar capacity constraints in dealing with a host of transnational maritime security challenges in the South China Sea, off Sarawak and eastern Sabah.Prioritisation often becomes the norm for Southeast Asian maritime forces around the South China Sea, whereby limited assets and manpower would have to be channelled in a largely ad-hoc fashion to fill capacity gaps in response to particular exigencies.
Competition, underpinned by mutual distrust and rivalries, continue to take precedence over cooperation between the South China Sea coastal states. If anything, this piracy incident shows that a more inclusive cooperation which involves all stakeholders - not just the South China Sea coastal states, but maritime user states that straddle this region and beyond - is required.
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