| The researching object of this paper is the fishery cooperation in the South China Sea and the role China plays in it.This paper selects the Tonkin Gulf regional fishery cooperation mechanism as a typical case study to explore the meaning to the entire South China Sea region.The abundance of fishery resources in the South China Sea implies the possibility of fishing conflicts in the region.The complexity of the sovereignty disputes means the inevitability of the fishing conflicts in the region.The fishing conflicts provide a direct impetus to the fishery cooperation.The increasingly close tie in economic,trade,education,culture,security etc.fields between China and ASEAN creates a general background for fishery cooperation,China’s "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" initiative is a golden opportunity for fishery cooperation in the South China Sea region.However,there are different views on the effect of fishery cooperation.This article is on the cooperation side and holds the view that cooperation can be effective.This paper argues that more attention should be focused on fishery cooperation and it should be placed on a regional-level strategy for the relevant parties(including Taiwan,Taiwan is a political entity,not a state).This paper applies case study method to demonstrate the argument from two aspects: cooperative willingness and practical effect.The process of fishery cooperation is still facing many challenges,this paper analyzes three major challenges from China’s own point of view: the "maritime militia" problem,Illegal Unreported Unregulated fishing problem and the sovereignty factor to illustrate the difficulties in pushing forward fishery cooperation.The conclusion of this paper is that cooperation can be achieved with the common willingness and joint efforts of the relevant parties. |
