Can Beijing use lessons learned by Europe to ease South China Sea tensions?

European nations have ‘successful practices on maritime governance’, that can provide a model for China, head of government-funded think tank says

But experts say Beijing has to work with its regional neighbours to find its own solutions to disputes in resource-rich waterway

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The head of a Chinese think tank says Beijing can learn from Europe on how to settle maritime disputes. Photo: AP

Published: 12:15pm, 9 Nov 2019Updated: 10:43pm, 9 Nov 2019

The head of a Beijing-funded think tank says China can benefit from Europe’s experience in settling maritime disputes as it seeks to reduce tensions in the South China Sea, but experts say a copycat approach will not work.

Speaking at the EU-China Experts’ Seminar on Maritime Security at the end of last month, Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCS), said that the European Union’s success in establishing cooperative mechanisms could provide a model for China to follow.

“The EU and European nations have successful practices on maritime governance and have accumulated rich experience in building cooperative mechanisms in the Mediterranean, Baltic, North and Black seas, which China could learn from,” he said in his opening address at the event in southern China’s island province of Hainan.

Despite their differences of opinion on some maritime issues, China and Europe were not in conflict and greater cooperation was good for regional stability, he said.

About 40 experts and officials attended the EU-China Experts’ Seminar on Maritime Security last month. Photo: Reuters

About 40 experts and officials attended the event, which was jointly organised by the NISCS and the EU. Its purpose was to discuss issues related to marine environmental protection, regional cooperation on maritime security, law enforcement at sea, international ocean governance and the protection of critical maritime infrastructure, the EU said in a statement.