Abstract
Engagement in the field of disaster management has the potential to build mutual trust and reduce the potential for misunderstandings and miscalculations between countries with strained relations. In reference to tensions over territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea (SCS), it seems that the need for such mutual exchange and common inspirations has never been greater. Natural disasters challenge national borders, as do natural disaster preparations and responses. This chapter suggests that cooperative efforts in the field of disaster management in the SCS are important not only because they can mitigate the damage caused by natural disasters but also because they can serve as a positive example of successful regional cooperation, which may encourage potential enemies to move forward and consider deeper cooperation on more contentious issues.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The Zangmu Hydropower Project is expected to generate 38,000 megawatts of energy—twice the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam (Chaturvedi 2013).
- 3.
Under the rules of procedure adopted by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), the claimant states in Southeast Asia had to submit information to the CLCS by 13 May 2009, if they intended to make a claim for a continental shelf beyond 200 nm pursuant to Article 76 (8) of the UNCLOS.
- 4.
- 5.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, military expenditures in Southeast Asia, except for Myanmar and Brunei , have risen steadily from US$14.4 billion collectively in 2004 to US$35.5 billion in 2013, marking a 147 percent increase within a decade. Vietnam and the Philippines have each spent 10 percent of total ASEAN defense spending in 2013. In 2014, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that Malaysia’s defense budget would be increased to US$5.4 billion in 2015, a hike of 10 percent, while China maintains the second-largest defense budget in the world behind the United States with US$145 billion. Taiwan is not an ARF member but maintains a considerable military force and a defense budget exceeding US$10.7 billion. See http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/milex_database.
- 6.
This poll was conducted by the BBC World Service. For more details on China’s image, see http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/14/chapter-2-chinas-image; and http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/14/chapter-4-how-asians-view-each-other.
- 7.
This poll is part of a study that has been ongoing since 1992 on political attitudes, including the unification vs. independence issue, national identity, and political party preference. See http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwAn/archives/2015/07/26/2003623930.
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Coutaz, G. (2018). Disaster Management in the South China Sea: A Chance for Peace and Cooperation. In: Spangler, J., Karalekas, D., Lopes de Souza, M. (eds) Enterprises, Localities, People, and Policy in the South China Sea . Critical Studies of the Asia-Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62828-8_6
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