Third EUROSEAS (European Association of Southeast Asian Studies) Conference, London, 6-8 September 2001
Panel on the South China Sea
Convenors
Dr. Stein Tønnesson, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO)
Co-convenor, Professor Michael Leifer, London School of Economics and Political Science, died on 22 March 2001. Michael, who also planned to present his own paper under the panel, will be greatly missed.
Invited scholar
Professor Lee Lai To, Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore
Introduction
Throughout known history the main trading routes between Southeast and Northeast Asia have passed through the South China Sea. Seafarers have followed routes along the coasts of southern China and Vietnam or the Philippine Islands and Borneo, and have always feared and been warned against the dangerous reefs of the Paracels and Spratlys. Until the 20th century the reefs and islets were seldom considered as assets, but with the advent of modern navies and nation states they gained strategic and symbolic value, and with oil discoveries and 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zones, the Spratlys became objects of intense rivalry between no less than six states. Little progress has been made towards the delimitation of maritime zones in the South China Sea, not to speak of a settlement of the sovereignty disputes to the Spratlys, the Paracels or Scarborough Shoal. Thus the continental shelf and fishing grounds of the South China Sea remain in a legal vacuum, hindering resource management and environmental protection. Why is it so? How long will it last? What are the likely consequences? What are the implications of the disputes in the South China Sea for relations between the member states in ASEAN, for their relations with China and for the policies of external powers towards the region? These are questions to be discussed by the eight contributors to the panel.
Papers (click for abstracts)