The Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS) is pleased to host this webinar to discuss in-depth the current maritime security challenges in East Asia.

 

  The year 2026 will mark the tenth anniversary of the South China Sea Arbitration Award of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). Despite the PCA's rejection of China's claims, including the "Nine-Dash Line," China disregards the award and is increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, including by building military facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea and by heavily damaging the marine environment. The South China Sea issue is not a regional challenge but a serious global challenge as the sea is one. All of us are connected by the sea and keep growing on the water. Also, the South China Sea today may be the East China Sea tomorrow. Japan cannot be indifferent to the events in the South China Sea, either. China’s maritime expansion in the South China Sea is not only military. China has been engineering gray zone and hybrid warfare, which is more difficult for weaker regional countries to address. China Coast Guard (CCG) has disturbed the Philippines’ replenishment in the Second Thomas shoal. In August, a CCG vessels chasing the Philippine Coast Guard vessel collided with a PLA Naval ship in the waters surrounding the Scarborough Shoal. They lack seamanship.

 

The gray zone and hybrid warfare is difficult to deter. Defense by all instruments of national power and by international partnership is increasingly important. Current momentum for cooperation among like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Quad countries, i.e., Japan, the United States, and Australia, and India must be maintained and even accelerated.

With these in mind at this critical juncture, it is indispensable for the international intellectual community to contribute to the global efforts to maintain the rules-based maritime order built upon the principle of the rule of law by promoting and sharing correct understanding of the acute security environment of East Asia and of the importance of the fundamental principle of the rule of law. Sense of community and habit of cooperation are growing in the Indo-Pacific region. We must capitalize on this regional trend. Bilateral and mini-lateral initiative in regional security terms should be synergized, particularly to enhance maritime domain awareness in the huge maritime expanse.

 

This webinar will look into the significance of the South China Sea Arbitral Award and the impact of China's assertiveness. Based on shared recognition of these points among the experts, the webinar will look into how we should and can address those serious challenges. Questions include: What is the current state of maritime security cooperation in the region?; What will be the future of the regional security architecture; How should the U.S. alliance network be intertwined in it; and what roles shouldthe Quad, AUKUS, ARF, ADMM, and ADMM+ play?

  

  

Four prominent experts from France, the Philippines, the U.S. and Japan will discuss these issues.

 

The experts are :

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  – Dr. Valerie Niquet, Foundation for Strategic Research, France
  – Professor Renato Cruz De Castro, De La Salle University, The Philippines
  – Professor James Kraska, the US Naval War Collage 
  – Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, former Commander, Self-Defense Fleet, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
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  Professor Hideshi Tokuchi, President of the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS), will moderate the webinar.