On 22-23 February, NISCSS President Wu Shicun attended the 2019 China-Japan Maritime Security Dialogue in Tokyo, Japan.

At the Dialogue, Dr. Wu delivered a keynote speech on the implication of the Indo-Pacific Concept and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for maritime security between China and Japan. He pointed out that the Indo-Pacific Strategy, proposed by the United States and Japan, has a strong connotation of confronting China, and its impact on the evolving regional order and South China Sea situation deserves close observation. Under such a strategic framework, the United States is gradually upgrading its freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea not only in terms of its frequency, but also engaging allies such as Japan, the UK and Australia in joint operations. As a result, the US-China military rivalry would remain the main theme dominating regional security situation, while the increasing Japanese, British and Australian military presence may become the somehow unpredictable new factors. Meanwhile, since Japan has accelerated its pace of institutionalizing its military presence in the South China Sea starting from 2017, China-Japan competition in military power and security interests in this region would probably grow more intense. Therefore, Dr. Wu concluded that military activities of out-of-the-region states, along with negotiation of the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC), unilateral activities of regional claimant states,  as well as China’s island construction and facilities deployment have become major factors influencing the South China Sea situation.

Dr. Wu also took questions from Japanese participants of the Dialogue concerning the Chinese stance on the South China Sea Arbitration, the significance of the COC negotiations and potential challenges to it, as well as port construction and management and interconnectivity of China’s high-speed rails under the BRI framework. He then offered suggestions on how to promote communications among young scholars of both China and Japan on ocean related topics and how to enhance bilateral maritime crisis management.

Initiated in 2014 by Nanjing University and Sasakawa Peace Foundation, the Dialogue has been held successfully for 5 rounds. This year’s dialogue brought together more than 30 experts and scholars from both China and Japan to discuss issues including maritime law enforcement institutions of the two countries, Japan’s construct of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, and bilateral maritime cooperation under the BRI.