March 2017 Policy Brief NAVIES, COAST GUARDS, THE MARITIME COMMUNITY AND INTERNATIONAL STABILITY Editors: Ian Bowers Collin Koh FOREWORD The maritime security environment in East Asia is a policy priority for both private and state actors. The strategic and economic importance of the sea ensures that its stability is of primary concern. Yet competing visions of how stability should be achieved and what a new ‘status-quo’ looks like has created uncertainty and competition. Naval forces in the region are growing as littoral states seek to ensure their interests at sea are met. Concurrently, many of the same states have looked to maritime law enforcement agencies to supplement their maritime security capabilities. Through cases studies of littoral states in Asia and beyond this policy brief examines how states in the region have integrated maritime law enforcement agencies into their existing maritime security architecture and how successful these efforts have been. This Policy Brief also determines how maritime stability is impacted by these developments and how it can be maintained in this hybrid maritime operating environment. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. List of Abbreviations i Introduction iv Key Findings viii Setting the Scene The Maritime Environment in the Western Pacific 2 Liu Qing The Battle that Never Was: Northern Waters during the Cold War 6 Tør Ivar Strømmen The Maritime Industries as Stakeholders? 10 James Goldrick Southeast Asia’s Naval Shipbuilding Industry: The Challenges Ahead 13 Richard A. Bitzinger Small Navies and International Stability: Challenges for Small Navies 16 Geoffrey Till What are Small Navies for? The Case of Deterrence in East Asia 19 Ian Bowers The Navy-Coast Guard Nexus Coast Guard-Navy Jointness as a Response to Hybrid Threats 23 James Goldrick The Case of China 28 Liu Lin The Relationship between the Japan Coast Guard and the 31 Maritime Self Defense Force Fumio Ota Establishing a Cooperative Partnership between the ROKN and the 34 Korea Coast Guard Sukjoon Yoon The Vietnam Coast Guard 37 Vu Truong Minh Huy The Malaysia Case Study 40 Dzirhan Mahadzir Singapore: Whole-of-Government Approach to Maritime Security 45 Collin Koh Inward-Looking and Expanding Bakamla: The Indonesian Case of 48 Navy-Coastguard Nexus Muhamad Arif The Norwegian Coast Guard – Security Policy Contribution during the 51 Cold War, 1945 -1990 Jo Gade Maritime Militia and Fishing Conflicts in the South China Sea 54 Zhang Hongzhou French State Action at Sea 57 Jean-Rene Degans Stability and Cooperation The Concept of an Oceans Policy 62 Sam Bateman Escalation Management and Clashes at Sea 66 Ian Bowers Coast Guard Cooperation as a Confidence Building Measure: A Tool for 70 Stability in Southeast Asia? Jo Inge Bekkevold Arctic Coast Guard Cooperation: Room for Manoeuvre? 74 Andreas Østhagen Contributors’ Biographies 78 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACGF Arctic Coast Guard Forum ADMM ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting APMM Agensi Penguatkuasa Maritim Malaysia ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASW Anti-submarine warfare BAKAMLA Badan Keamanan Laut BAKORKAMLA Badan Koordinasi Keamanan Laut BYO Boustead Yonca-Onuk C4ISR Command, Control, Communication, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance CBM Confidence-building measure CCG China Coast Guard COC Code of Conduct CSBM Confidence and security building measures CSCAP Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific CUES Code on Unplanned Encounters at Sea DMS Destination Marine Services EAMF Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum EEZ Exclusive economic zone EU European Union FIC Fast Interceptor Craft FON Freedom of navigation GMF Global Maritime Fulcrum HACGAM Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting HCEG Homefront Crisis Executive Group ICA Immigration and Checkpoints Authority IMO International Maritime Organization INCSEA Incidents at Sea Agreement JCG Japan Coast Guard JMMS Joint Multimission Ship JMSDF Japan Maritime Self Defense Force ii KCG Korea Coast Guard LHD Landing helicopter dock LPD Landing platform dock LRAD Long Range Acoustic Device MECC Maritime Enforcement Coordinating Centre MLE Maritime law enforcement MMEA Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency MND Ministry of National Defense MNPSS Ministry of National Public Safety and Security MOOTW Military operations other than war MPA Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore MRO Maintenance, repair, and overhaul MSO Maritime Security Order MSSS Malaysian Sea Surveillance System MSTF Maritime Security Task Force NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NMOG National Maritime Operations Group NMSG National Maritime Sense-Making Group NMSS National Maritime Security System NORDEFCO Nordic Defence Cooperation NPR National Police Reserve OPV Offshore patrol vessel PASKAL Pasukan Khas Angkatan Laut PASKAU Pasukan Khas Angkatan Udara PCG Police Coast Guard PLA People’s Liberation Army PLAN People’s Liberation Army Navy PME Professional military education PMS Preparation for Military Struggle ReCAAP Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia RIMPAC Rim of the Pacific exercise RMAF Royal Malaysian Air Force iii RMN Royal Malaysian Navy RMP Royal Malaysian Police RoE Rules of engagement ROK Republic of Korea ROKN Republic of Korea Navy RSN Republic of Singapore Navy SAR Search-and-rescue SBIC Shipbuilding Industry Corporation of Vietnam SC Singapore Customs SCAP Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers SCDF Singapore Civil Defence Force SGMer General Secretary for the Sea SGPV Second-Generation Patrol Vessel SLBM Submarine-launched ballistic missile SLOC Sea line of communication SMCC Singapore Maritime Crisis Centre SOA State Oceanic Administration STAR Special Task and Rescue STEngg Singapore Technologies Engineering UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization USA United States of America USN United States Navy USCG United States Coast Guard USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics VCG Vietnam Coast Guard VMP Vietnam Marine Police VPA Vietnam’s People Army VPN Vietnam’s People Navy WoG Whole-of-government iv INTRODUCTION Ian Bowers and Collin Koh There are multiple sources of instability on the seas of East Asia. At a state-level, geostrategic ambition and competition intermix with disputes over sovereignty and maritime exploitation rights creating a maritime environment rife with geopolitical tension. At the same time, general lawlessness poses a serious challenge to economic and environmental good order. Each state appreciates these challenges in a different manner and consequently their policy responses are diverse. In particular, tensions in the South China Sea ran high following Manila’s filing of its legal challenge against Beijing at the Permanent Court of Arbitration about a year after their maritime standoff at the Scarborough Shoal. Over the years, numerous maritime incidents have been observed. While navies have mostly receded into the shadows, taking on what could be deemed a recessed deterrent, back-up role, it is maritime law enforcement agencies (MLEAs) which are now spearheading their governments’ claims in the disputed waters. These forces which may include coast guards, maritime police, customs organisations and even maritime militias are now a key tool in states’ maritime policies. Yet there are some contradictions in their role on the seas of East Asia. MLEAs have traditionally been tasked with enforcing national maritime laws and providing other public goods such as search and rescue and environmental protection. However, they now are also on the frontline of inter-state tension, not just protecting maritime sovereignty and economic rights, but also contesting it. Recall those episodes of fishermen being harassed in waters off the disputed Paracel and Spratly Islands, and the Chinese coastguard blockade of the Second Thomas Shoal where a squad of Philippine marines was constantly stationed on board the rusting, decrepit landing ship which grounded on the feature in the late 1990s. And further eastwards, in the East China Sea, coastguard encounters had been a frequent occurrence especially after Tokyo nationalised the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in late 2012. Overall, this trend looks set to persist. With some exceptions, navies in East Asia are gradually seeking to relinquish their constabulary roles to MLEAs. This has been the rationale behind the emergence of new MLEAs in the region since the 2000s. Granted, not all these agencies have been fully capable of taking on the entire suite of peacetime constabulary roles they are supposed to perform. This is due to capacity shortfalls and other endogenous reasons – chiefly of all being the fact that many are relatively young organisations that need time to establish their structure and operating cultures. This is especially the case for MLEAs which are either spawned off navies, or are essentially a macro-body that is coordinating or fully administering subordinate agencies. As such, there are instances where navies still play a central role – especially for countries with very little resources to spare to establish separate MLEAs. Navies from time to time also enter the fray where their civilian “white hull” counterparts have proven inadequate for their tasks. But it is safe to say that unlike in the past “white hull” encounters have emerged to the forefront. They are supposed to portray a less militaristic impression than their “grey hull” counterparts, which may be constructive in managing interstate maritime disputes.