The Bangkok Post
27 Dec 2017
It is no longer a secret that the South China Sea is threatened — not politically or militarily, but ecologically. More than half of the world’s fishing trawlers operate in this sea. That threatens the collapse of the most productive source of seafood in our region, and the world. Scientists agree that the environmental disaster of over-fishing will destroy this fishing ground in the foreseeable future. No government or body of experts disputes this.
Seeing the problem, however, is the easy part. Doing something about it is entirely a different matter. That is because of the politics and aggressive claims by countries claiming to own the sea, or parts of it. China holds the key. It is highly aware of the over-fishing disaster that is coming. But Beijing refuses for political reasons to address the problem in any manner helpful to its solution.
All of this and much more has recently been summarized in a brilliant report in layman’s language for the environmental website Mongabay. Author David Brown, a retired American diplomat, states that the only way to save the South China Sea fisheries is cooperation between China on the one hand, and all the other claimants. The report also states that this one-and-only solution is nowhere in sight and seems unlikely.
To call that disappointing is understatement. But while it is correct to criticize China for its stubbornness on the matter, there is blame to go around. It illustrates the problem created by ASEAN over the past two decades. By continuing to kick the issue of the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) down the road, ASEAN actually has closed off many chances for agreement. The COC has become, just as China has insisted, a insoluble problem of putting all South China Sea problems in a single basket.
Here is a perfect example. Last July, the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) sponsored a meeting on South China Sea over-fishing. Scientists and policy experts came from the US, Australia and Canada, plus every country claiming territorial control of the South China Sea — except one. No one was invited from China because no government official, scientist or academic from that country is allowed by Beijing to even discuss the idea of cooperation or compromise over the vast body of water. Delegates from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan, on the other hand, agreed that compromise is the only way they can see to saving the fishing grounds.
As a practical matter, lack of cooperation and compromise will kill off the South China Sea fish and fishing. For example, every year China — as much aware of the problem as any nation — orders a three-month moratorium on all fishing. It’s a useless call. Governments in Hanoi, Manila and Taipei specifically urge their fishermen to ignore it. A halt to fishing would recognise China’s sovereignty over the whole sea, which these three countries says is baseless.
The problem then is that China has nowhere near the enforcement power needed to cover even a tiny fraction of the sea. Plus, China’s absolute refusal to even discuss matters multilaterally ensure that other countries around the world merely scoff at Beijing’s three-month ban order.
ASEAN has failed its responsibility to convince China to make a reasonable agreement on policing and using the South China Sea. In particular, those Asean members claiming partial ownership — Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam — refuse even to enter negotiations they feel could compromise their territorial claims.
China, however, bears the responsibility and blame for refusing to cooperate or compromise on the most valuable resource under the surface of the vast South China Sea — its much-needed and nutritious seafood.
(source:https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1386446/over-fishing-killing-sea)
