An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Current Maritime Security Frameworks and Mechanisms

As 2011 unfolds, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines are all proceeding apace with exploration operations and drilling plans to capture the undersea hydrocarbon resources of the South China Sea in the hodgepodge of contending state claims there. (Appendix I) Friction, sometimes serious, has resulted and each of the three states has stepped up its rhetorical assertion of sole jurisdictional authority to drill in specified areas. Each state has also increased its South China Sea naval activities n ways that are either meant to signal resolve to defend its right to the resources or are at least perceived as such.

Some observers have suggested that regional economic ties and the mutual desire for a stable external environment within which to promote economic development will keep energy competition and sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea from resulting in conflict.i Others opine that tensions are manageable because the fact that to date Chinese maritime claims in the East and South China Seas “are generally being enforced by unarmed patrol cutters [sends] a clear signal that Beijing does not seek escalation to a major crisis on these matters.”ii Others claim that such views are wishful thinking.iii This paper examines whether in the midst of such aggravated circumstances existing maritime security frameworks and mechanisms—two in particular, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the Declaration n the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea‐‐are sufficient to maintain regional and to advance regional economic development.