But claim and jurisdiction dispute
between and among nations of
Southeast Asia on South China Sea
has made counter-piracy efforts by
many countries less fruitful. In the
absence of agreed boundaries in
South China Sea, states are purely
motivated to safeguard their individual
self-interest, rather than collective
interest of the region. The “lack of
agreed jurisdiction” complicates
maritime security enforcements and
coordination. It facilitates illegal
criminal activities at sea and reinforces
maritime terrorism.
The author is an IR enthusiast and
observer of international affairs.
18
Importance of anti-piracy measures
Keeping South China Sea free from
piracy is a major concern for most of
the regional states as well as nonregional countries. China, Japan,
South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines all states put
great emphasis on countering
maritime piracy. Non-regional states
such as the United States, India, and
Australia are strongly in favor of
safeguarding their shipping and naval
interests in the region. Freedom of
navigation with safe sea-lanes for oil
tankers, containerships, and naval
vessels are their top priority. As South
China Sea is the connecting access
way between the Pacific and the
Indian Ocean, it has great strategic
significance. For the United States,
South China Sea is the waterway
through which it sends its Pacific Fleet
comprising warships and aircraft
carriers to Arabian Sea and Persian
Gulf. Emerging Asian nations are
heavily dependent on this waterway
for bringing energy supplies from the
oil rich Persian Gulf region. Hence,
enabling a strong environment of antipiracy in these waters is a crucial
priority for not just the regional states
but for all other non-regional powers.
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Piracy in Southeast Asian waters has
three distinctive dimensions. First,
opportunistic petty thieves steal from
ships at anchor or in port. This type
of occurrences is prevalent in and
around ports in Indonesia, the
Philippines and Vietnam. Second,
when ships cruise through confined
waters in the Malacca Strait,
Singapore Straits, the Indonesian and
Philippines archipelagos, pirates board
to ships and steal cash and valuable.
Despite these pirates are armed but
incidence of violence is irregular.
Third, the hijacking of an entire ship,
selling off the ship‟s cargo, recycled
for service under another name and
using the ship for further service.