Quest for Effective Ocean Management in the South China Sea

10 Abril 2018, 10:00 • Shiv Kumar Singh

In managing the ocean, it is always challenging for states to find mechanisms to harmonise different interests and to exploit the resources in the most sustainable manner. The South China Sea, one of the largest semi-enclosed sea in the world is not only rich in marine environment but also contains complicated sovereignty and maritime disputes, making the quest for effective ocean management is even more imperative. In an effort to find the most feasible options for ocean management in the South China Sea, this paper will first examine the elements that call for better ocean management of the South China Sea. It then considers available options for managing the South China Sea from best practices of the region and the world. Each option will be analysed to assert its feasibility. The paper concludes by suggesting the most feasible option to better manage the South China Sea in its own context.

The Need for Ocean Management in the South China Sea

The need for better ocean management in the South China Sea comes from at least three sources because the South China Sea is (1) a sea of proven and potentially very rich resources; (2) a sea of complicated disputes; and (3) a sea of potential conflict.

Of the three aspects requiring better management in the South China Sea, resource management will require the development of all three levels. At the first level, there are indications that all parties are open for discussion on joint development/cooperation initiatives. However, discussions may be deadlocked on sovereignty issues, for example, if one party continues to insist that “sovereignty is indisputable” and makes any discussion impossible to conclude, thus preventing further management at the second and third levels. This, unfortunately, is what has happened since the last two decades, shelving any possibility for joint development/cooperation.
Dispute management shares similar difficulties with resources management. The parties in the South China Sea dispute have not yet formed any forum for discussion on sovereignty and maritime claims, let alone reaching consensus on joint actions to seek unified interpretation of the law governing the claims or submission to judicial bodies. Most recently, for example, the act of the Philippines in submitting certain aspects of the disputes in the South China Sea to an arbitration formed under Annex VII of UNCLOS faced strong criticism from other party.