Final cover 2020.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-07 2:46 PM Page 1 Given the multiple and ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic Islands 2020 Global on Report Annual The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road throughout the world, it should come as no surprise that the theme for this year’s edition of the Annual Report is public health on small islands, Islands Economic the vulnerabilities and resilience associated with the public health systems, and the links to the rest of the world that both aggravate Cooperation Forum challenges and offer creative solutions. Using historical and current examples, the authors contributing to this volume show how islands experience and govern this external crisis ANNuAL REpoRt while balancing economic and social agendas. As is the case with most oN GLobAL ISLANDS issues on islands, the internal relationships developed on the islands, and the collaborations they have established externally, are critical to understanding islands’ current circumstances and the likelihood of 2020 experiencing sustainable futures. – JAMES E. RANDALL Forum Cooperation Islands Economic UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability University of Prince Edward Island, Canada The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Islands Economic Cooperation Forum ANNuAL REpoRt oN GLobAL ISLANDS 2020 ISbN 978-1-988692-47-0 (print) Foreign Affairs office of Hainan province, p.R. China ISbN 978-1-988692-48-7 (digital) Institute of Island Studies at the university of prince Edward Island, Canada Opening pages pgs 1-12 FINAL hi-res April 6.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-06 12:20 PM Page 1 The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Islands Economic Cooperation Forum AnnuAl REpoRT on GlobAl ISlAndS 2020 This report is sponsored by the Islands Economic Cooperation Forum Island Studies press at the university of prince Edward Island 2021 Opening pages pgs 1-12 FINAL hi-res April 6.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-06 12:20 PM Page 2 The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Islands Economic Cooperation Forum ANNUAL REPORT ON GLOBAL ISLANDS 2020 ISBN 978-1-988692-47-0 (print) ISBN 978-1-988692-48-7 (digital) Chairman of the Board of Editors: Wang Sheng Director General of Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province, P.R. China Deputy Chairman of the Board of Editors: Zhou Ping Deputy Director General of Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province, P.R. China Editor: James Randall University of Prince Edward Island, Canada Assistants to the Editor: Li Liyun and Cai Qinhong Island Studies press at upEI university of prince Edward Island Charlottetown, prince Edward Island, Canada C1A 4p3 islandstudiespress.com ispstaff@upei.ca Opening pages pgs 1-12 FINAL hi-res April 6.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-06 3:33 PM Page 3 Contents P R E FAC E 5 Wang Sheng, Director General, Foreign Affairs Office, Hainan Province, P.R. China PART I: A BACKGROUND TO ISLAND ECONOMIES INTRODUCTION 8 James Randall, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada The state of island economies and development in 2020 13 1 James Randall and Marlene Chapman, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada PART II: ISLAND DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH Building back better: COVID-19 and island economies 63 2 Francesco Sindico, University of Strathclyde Law School, Glasgow, Scotland Neither gift nor luck: Island resilience and the COVID-19 pandemic 81 3 Robert Huish, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada Pandemic and post-pandemic islandness: 105 4 Building and wrecking resilience Ilan Kelman, University College London, UK; University of Agder, Norway Islands and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals: 5 Learning lessons to transform our world — A health perspective 127 John N. Telesford, T. A. Marryshow Community College, Grenada PART III: MARITIME COOPERATION AND LARGE OCEAN ECONOMIES A call for action: Prospects for cooperation between Hainan 157 6 and other global islands Huang Danying, Hainan University, P.R. China Wang Sheng, Director General, Foreign Affairs Office, Hainan Province, P.R. China Explaining conflicts and cooperation among islands: 177 7 Towards a unified framework Mathew Y.H. Wong, Education University of Hong Kong Building cooperation among networks of islands: 197 8 Redefining large ocean economies Lin Heshan, Island Research Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources, P.R. China Deng Yuncheng, Institute of Marine Strategy, Tianjin University, P.R. China Conclusions 215 James Randall, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada Opening pages pgs 1-12 FINAL hi-res April 6.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-06 12:20 PM Page 4 Opening pages pgs 1-12 FINAL hi-res April 6.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-06 12:20 PM Page 5 THE 21ST CENTURY MARITIME SILK ROAD 5 preface WANG SHENG, Director General, Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of CPC Hainan Provincial Committee Director General, Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province Director General, Hainan Provincial Leading Group Service Office for Boao Forum for Asia The year 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the Boao Forum for Asia and the fifth anniversary of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road: Islands Economic Cooperation Forum (“the Forum”). At such a historic moment, I am delighted to see that through the hard work of my old friend Prof. James Randall, Dr. Laurie Brinklow, and colleagues from the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island, the Annual Report on Global Islands 2020 will soon be unveiled at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2021 to share firsthand the research results on island studies over the past year with all those interested in island development. The year 2020, which is thankfully just behind us, has been truly hard and eventful for everyone. Countries and regions around the world, including island economies and societies, have actively responded to the challenges posed by COVID-19. Due to epidemic control measures, neither I nor so many others were able to see our friends and colleagues from other islands over the past year, and the 5th Islands Economic Cooperation Forum, which was scheduled to be held in 2020, had to be postponed. However, just like islands that have been sources of resilience to external crises over much of their histories, this has not deterred our friendship. Hainan Province and its sister provinces on over 30 island jurisdictions around the world, including Jeju Province of South Korea, have joined hands in writing a heroic chapter of fighting the coronavirus. This is a vivid example of Hainan’s vision to promote extensive consulta- tion, joint development, and shared benefits through the establishment of the Forum. Over the past five years, in addition to the annual Forum, we have also consistently published the Annual Report on Global Islands, making an important public and professional contribution to island economic studies. We are delighted to see that these research results are gaining influence and sparking greater debate in the academic community. As is pointed out in this year’s report, strengthening cooperation across our world of islands and building closer networks among islands and islanders remain the overarching theme for island development in our times. In what we hope will soon become the post-COVID-19 era, only by enhancing cooperation and improving Opening pages pgs 1-12 FINAL hi-res April 6.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-06 12:20 PM Page 6 6 ANNUAL REPORT ON GLOBAL ISLANDS 2020 resilience to international public health hazards can island economies achieve better and more sustainable development. It can be said that the Annual Report on Global Islands 2020 is the best gift that I and all of my colleagues engaged in island studies can offer for the fifth anniversary of the Forum. It crystallizes our unremitting efforts over the past five years to promote island cooperation. It also represents the best wishes for the continuation of this international team to the Forum for the next five years. As Hainan redoubles its effort to build the world’s largest free trade port, we sincerely hope to forge friendships and share development opportunities with more islands, so as to jointly contribute to the establishment of a community that experi- ences a shared future for global islands. March 5, 2021 Opening pages pgs 1-12 FINAL hi-res April 6.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-06 12:20 PM Page 7 PART I A background to island economies Opening pages pgs 1-12 FINAL hi-res April 6.qxp_Layout 1 2021-04-06 12:20 PM Page 8 8 ANNUAL REPORT ON GLOBAL ISLANDS 2020 Introduction JAMES RANDALL, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada When the possible themes for this year’s Annual Report on Global Islands were being discussed with stakeholders, it was only natural for the outcome of the discussion to reflect the principal concern facing islands, as well as all other jurisdictions, at the time — the COVID-19 pandemic. After all, it had just forced the postponement of the 2020 Islands Economic Cooperation Forum and was adversely affecting the public health of so many islanders and the economies of so many islands. However, this volume is not just about this specific pandemic and islands. Although several chapters speak directly to the way islands have experienced and overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, this fifth volume in the series of Annual Reports takes a broader, more holistic interpretation of public health as it relates to small islands. It suggests that, sooner or later, most island states and subnational jurisdictions will enter a post-pandemic reality. That reality may create even greater economic challenges for some islands, especially for those that depend on international tourism. There are already signs that some islands are taking a path of least resistance, opting to rebuild the same economies and the same struc- tures that existed pre-pandemic. However, for others the pandemic points to a “call to action” as reflected in slogans such as “building back better”, a “new normal”, and a “greening of the economy”.