International Involvement In The Maritime Security Of The Straits Of Malacca And Singapore In The Post-Cold War Era

The Straits of Malacca and Singapore, due to its location with unique geographical characteristics, has long been a strategically important sea lane of communication in the world. During the long pre-colonial era, the rise of the Srivijaya Kingdom, the Majapahit Kingdom and the Malacca Sultanate was closely related with the Straits. In the colonial age, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and the Japanese had bloody battles for the control over the Straits. In the post-colonial times, the three littoral states including Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia resumed their control over the Straits. Yet some extra-regional powers have been coveting the Straits and their struggle for the control over the Straits, open and secret, has never ceased for a minute. After the cold war, the maritime security of the Straits has been being challenged by both traditional and non-traditional threats. The stakeholders of the Straits won't turn a deaf ear to their national interests under threat and take an active part in the enhancement of the maritime security of the Straits.The Straits is strategically critical to the security of territory, sovereignty, economy and trade of the three littoral states. Its strategic values are different to the three littoral states, which leads to their different perceptions of and attitudes toward the threats facing the maritime security of the Straits. Therefore, different unilateral measures have been taken by the three littoral states to deal with those threats. Meanwhile, as the three littoral states have more strategic values and interests in common and they are confronted with an increasingly heavy pressure from the international community to enhance the maritime security of the Straits, cooperative measures are also taken by them at bilateral, trilateral and even multilateral levels.The Straits is also of strategic significance to the extra-regional powers such as the United States, Japan, India and China in terms of their economy, trade and military strategy. But its strategic significance to the four powers differs, which leads to their different ways to involve themselves in the enhancement of the maritime security of the Straits. The United States and India prefer the military way, while Japan prefers to promote the establishment of a multilateral cooperative mechanism and provide aids to the littoral states. Although China started late, compared to its counterparts like the United States, Japan and India, to involve itself in the enhancement of the maritime security of the Straits, China has been praised by the littoral states and IMO for its positive efforts made in recent years. China's self-extrication from the "Malacca Dilemma" needs more effective measures actively taken by China.The Straits is also vital to the economy and trade at the regional and global levels. Therefore some international or regional organizations like IMO,IMB and ASEAN also make an active contribution to the enhancement of the security of the Straits. Besides, some international or regional regimes like ARF, ReCAAP and Co-operative Mechanism are also helpful in the coordination of the stakeholders' enhancement of the maritime security of the Straits.Cooperation outweighs conflict in the indispensable international involvement in the maritime security of the Straits which is of great help, in an objective sense, to the enhancement of the maritime security of the Straits. The littoral states and the extra-regional powers, as well as international or regional organizations and regimes, focus on the different aspects of the maritime security of the Straits in their involvement in solving the problem. But international involvement is only helpful to control or solve the non-traditional security issues in the maritime security of the Straits whereas it is unhelpful or even detrimental to that of the traditional issues.