Haikou (CNS) -- The security and governance situation in the East Asian seas, especially the controversial South China Sea, and the potential for multilateral cooperation were discussed at an international conference held by the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS) starting on November 17.
Dean Wu Shicun of NISCSS expressed the view that the current situation was stable and under control, and emphasized China's readiness to negotiate with neighboring countries on how to resolve any disputes, safeguard navigation and manage natural resources in this region of overlapping national interests.
The issues are as crucial to countries far from the region as to those within it, Wu stressed. He believes security on the South China Sea must be commonly defended without external interference.
Demands for multilateral cooperation on security grow against a backdrop of ever increasing trade and transportation loads, but criminal threats on the waters complicate things further, Wu pointed out.
"It is high time we abandoned the East Asian security regime left over from the Cold War and led by the US, which has proven unhelpful in resolving emerging, non-traditional security matters", he asserted.
To counter piracy in the Strait of Malacca, Wu proposed cooperation among the sea security departments of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, and recommended the extension of joint efforts to strike at the ultimate social cause of crime on the seas, through poverty elimination.
He also called for multilateral engagement in an emergency response system to handle oil spills at sea, to protect the region from events like the disastrous aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig failure.
Over 40 experts, scholars and officials representing various international organizations attended the meeting.
