Asian Maritime Power in the 21st Century: Strategic Transactions China, India and Southeast Asia

5. Political Components of Maritime Power

175 5 POLITICAL COMPONENTS OF MARITIME POWER Diplomacy฀ is฀ fundamental฀ to฀ states฀ and฀ critical฀ for฀ the฀ conduct฀ of฀ international฀relations.฀It฀is฀exercised฀to฀further฀national฀interests,฀consolidate฀ existing฀ relationships,฀ or฀ to฀ avert฀ a฀ crisis/conflict฀ and฀ can฀ be฀ invoked฀ at฀ any฀ time฀ across฀ the฀ spectrum฀ of฀ cordial-adverse฀ relationship.฀There฀ is฀ a฀ symbiotic฀relationship฀between฀the฀state฀and฀its฀navy฀since฀both฀operate฀in฀ a฀partnership฀for฀furtherance฀of฀national฀interests.฀States฀have฀integrated฀ diplomacy฀ with฀ their฀ navies฀ and฀ have฀ found฀ this฀ instrument฀ of฀ military฀ power฀a฀useful฀means฀to฀exhibit฀goodwill,฀provide฀humanitarian฀assistance,฀ showcase฀technological฀prowess,฀build฀alliances,฀and฀for฀the฀demonstration฀of฀ coercive฀power.฀In฀that฀context,฀navies฀plan฀and฀train฀for฀the฀entire฀spectrum฀ of฀ diplomatic฀ activities฀ from฀ coercion,฀ presence,฀ friendship฀ missions฀ and฀ disaster฀relief฀operations.฀ Historically,฀ seas฀ and฀ oceans฀ have฀ facilitated฀ movement฀ of฀ people,฀ cultures,฀ideas,฀religion,฀and฀trade฀resulting฀in฀growth฀of฀maritime฀enterprise.฀ States฀have฀also฀transported฀state฀power,฀both฀coercive฀and฀benign,฀beyond฀ national฀shores฀through฀the฀medium฀of฀the฀sea.฀Naval฀diplomacy฀has฀been฀in฀ vogue฀and฀practice฀since฀ancient฀times฀and฀was฀exercised฀by฀the฀Greeks฀and฀ Romans฀in฀the฀Mediterranean฀and฀Cholas฀in฀India,฀Srivijaya฀in฀Southeast฀ Asia฀and฀by฀several฀dynasties฀in฀China฀in฀furtherance฀of฀national฀interests,฀ be฀it฀to฀appease฀powerful฀kingdoms,฀enhance฀trade,฀safeguard฀sea฀lanes,฀and฀ also฀in฀its฀coercive฀format฀of฀“gunboat”฀diplomacy.฀For฀instance,฀the฀Chola฀ king฀Rajendra฀Choladeva฀I฀dispatched฀a฀powerful฀naval฀fleet฀to฀Southeast฀Asia฀ targeted฀against฀Srivijaya฀kings฀ostensibly฀to฀protect฀own฀trade฀and฀maritime฀ 05AsianTime.indd฀฀฀175 12/30/10฀฀฀10:48:31฀AM 176 Asian Maritime Power in the 21st Century interests.฀As฀part฀of฀diplomacy,฀the฀Srivijaya฀kings฀had฀sent฀embassies฀to฀ India฀and฀China฀with฀precious฀gifts฀for฀the฀rulers฀and฀also฀built฀Buddhist฀ vihara฀(temples)฀in฀these฀kingdoms฀as฀goodwill฀gestures฀and฀also฀to฀seek฀ protection฀against฀attack฀by฀powerful฀neighbours.฀In฀China,฀the฀Ming฀rulers฀ dispatched฀naval฀fleets฀to฀establish฀trade฀links฀and฀in฀its฀coercive฀construct฀ established฀influence฀in฀some฀countries฀in฀Southeast฀Asia฀and฀in฀the฀Indian฀ Ocean.฀In฀the฀21st฀century฀navies฀continue฀to฀be฀the฀vanguard฀of฀various฀ political฀roles฀and฀missions฀that฀militaries฀perform฀during฀peacetime.฀ The฀ political฀ milieu฀ of฀ maritime฀ power฀ serves฀ the฀ state฀ in฀ several฀ noteworthy฀ dimensions.฀ The฀ navies฀ possess฀ a฀ unique฀ profile฀ of฀ being฀ instruments฀that฀are฀most฀suitable฀for฀projecting฀power฀and฀influence฀in฀ special฀dimensions฀over฀distant฀lands.฀They฀support฀operations฀in฀“aid฀to฀ civil฀power”,฀both฀in฀the฀national฀context฀and฀in฀multinational฀operations฀ in฀the฀entire฀swath฀of฀sea฀space฀across฀the฀globe.฀Significantly,฀navies฀are฀ not฀only฀undergoing฀transformation฀in฀terms฀of฀operations,฀doctrines฀and฀ technologies,฀ but฀ are฀ in฀ the฀ throes฀ of฀ transformation฀ to฀ meet฀ both฀ the฀ previous฀and฀emerging฀political฀requirements฀of฀the฀states.฀ This฀chapter฀endeavours฀to฀examine฀the฀changing฀contexts฀of฀the฀political฀ elements฀of฀maritime฀power฀in฀its฀transformational฀scope.฀These฀are฀premised฀ on฀competitive฀and฀cooperative฀maritime฀strategies,฀joint฀and฀coordinated฀ exercises฀and฀patrols฀and฀the฀diplomatic-strategic฀imperatives฀of฀leveraging฀ naval฀power฀for฀strategic฀maritime฀purposes.฀Also฀under฀discussion฀is฀the฀ political฀discourse฀that฀shapes฀maritime฀and฀naval฀operations,฀doctrines,฀and฀ how฀the฀decision-making฀in฀China฀and฀India฀exploits฀the฀maritime฀power฀ of฀the฀state฀to฀achieve฀political฀goals฀and฀objectives. At฀the฀core฀of฀this฀chapter฀is฀a฀critical฀analysis฀of฀the฀political฀contexts฀ of฀ maritime฀ power฀ of฀ China฀ and฀ India.฀The฀ chapter฀ highlights฀ how฀ the฀ rising฀powers฀perceive฀and฀shape฀the฀political฀outlook฀of฀maritime฀power.฀ It฀ examines฀ the฀ Chinese฀ writings,฀ articulations฀ and฀ conduct฀ of฀ naval฀ diplomacy.฀ Its฀ military฀ posturing฀ against฀ Taiwan,฀ frequent฀ encounters฀ with฀the฀U.S.฀Navy฀and฀occasional฀presence฀in฀Japanese฀waters฀provide฀an฀ insight฀ into฀ Chinese฀ understanding฀ and฀ employment฀ of฀ naval฀ forces฀ for฀ national฀objectives.฀Beijing’s฀engagement฀in฀multilateral฀confidence-building฀ initiatives,฀particularly฀in฀the฀South฀China฀Sea฀and฀the฀Straits฀of฀Malacca,฀ shows฀its฀commitment฀to฀building฀cordial฀relations฀with฀neighbours฀and฀ upholding฀ maritime฀ order.฀ Likewise,฀ the฀ chapter฀ highlights฀ the฀ Indian฀ writings฀on฀naval฀diplomacy฀and฀illustrates฀how฀this฀instrument฀of฀the฀state฀ is฀being฀used฀in฀furtherance฀of฀foreign฀policy฀objectives.฀The฀Indian฀naval฀ participation฀and฀contributions฀to฀preserving฀order฀at฀sea,฀participation฀in฀ ฀ UN฀ maritime฀ peacekeeping฀ operations฀ and฀ its฀ initiatives฀ to฀ engage฀ in฀ 05AsianTime.indd฀฀฀176 12/30/10฀฀฀10:48:32฀AM Political Components of Maritime Power 177 multilateral฀confidence-building...