Perspectives on Maritime Disputes in East Asia

The maritime disputes in East Asia have multiplied over the past few years, in parallel with the economic growth of the countries in the region, the rise of nationalist movements, fears and sometimes fantasies regarding the emergence of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a global power, increasing military expenses, as well as speculations regarding the potential resources in various disputed islands. None of these disputes is new however, as some have been subject to frictions for decades, if not centuries in a few cases. At the same time, none of these disputes has ever been at the origin of a major conflict between Asian countries.

The current situation appears to be, at the practical level, an opposition between lawyers, historians and strategists, each of these categories being represented at various levels within all the countries involved in the disputes. The experts also agree to disagree on what sort of paradigms they mostly rely on, and prove that these disputes are neither exclusively legal, nor historical or based on States strategies. They cannot also be strictly confined to the field, although rather large, of geostrategy. They are instead geopolitical, as they combine all those interpretations and arguments, which has the effect of limiting the possibilities to engage comprehensive dialogues among the parties…