Establishing Maritime Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: Balancing ASEAN Regional Interest in the Rise of Competing Great Power Rivalry
The resolution of the geopolitical status of China in the South China Sea becomes more urgent because the South China Sea issue is so closelylinked to the geopolitical security interests of China. The longer the South China Sea issue is left unresolved, the greater the geopolitical threat to China. The presence and vicinity of foreign warships, submarines, and aircraft within the same dimensional space are potential hazards in the South China Sea can cause accidents and incidents. A naval armaments program can create unwanted tension making maritime arms control and confidence-building as an important aspects of maritime diplomacy. Someintriguing issues appear in this new environment, such as how will Southeast Asia respond to great power rivalry inside and outside the region? Will China’s rise be accompanied with increasing fears of a great power’s war or will ASEAN as the core regional grouping be an important catalyst in the interaction among nations? Will the great powers’ tension be as dangerous as the Cold War or could it be worse as China is going to use its economic power as a strategic tool? How will ASEAN collectively or as individual member countries in Southeast Asia respond to the great power rivalry of China, US, Japan, India, and Russia? Will the arms race among states in the region endanger the balance of power in Southeast Asia region? Will rivalry among great power countries in the East/South China Sea destabilise the sea lanes of communication in the region which has sustained stability in the past several decades?
