By Prashanth Parameswaran
China’s maritime initiatives are designed to advance an all-too-familiar strategy.
While much attention at the 2015 Boao Forum for Asia this weekend was lavished on China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and other grand proposals, Beijing also held a ceremony on the sidelines of the forum to officially launch the Year of ASEAN-China Maritime Cooperation.
Last year, Chinese leaders repeatedly proposed making 2015 the year of ASEAN-China maritime cooperation. This is not entirely new – ASEAN and China have been talking about how to foster maritime cooperation for a while now, with Beijing unveiling a China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund in 2011. But 2015 was supposed to mark a landmark year that would highlight ASEAN-China cooperation this area and tie it in with the development of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
In doing so, Beijing had hoped to shift the attention away from conflict in the South China Sea, which it calculates is only a concern to the four ASEAN claimant states – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – and perhaps a few other interested parties, to more cooperative outcomes that benefit all. Focusing on financing projects would also enable Beijing to woo some ASEAN states with the win-win logic of cooperation to offset the times it scares them with its growing assertiveness in disputed areas. Not all ASEAN countries need to be convinced of this – just enough to keep ASEAN as a grouping divided on both the South China Sea issue itself as well as how to address issues moving forward.
Read the full story at The Diplomat