|
|
|
Abstract Maritime feature is the decisive factor for the Indo-Pacific region embodied with great geostrategic importance. The QUAD kicked off an initiative named the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), which aims at enforcing the collection and sharing of the information and data concerning maritime environment in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Islands, as well as capacity building in coastal countries. From a long-term perspective, the IPMDA also can be used to establish the rules of the maritime activities in the region. The initiative has obvious characteristics, such as targeting on China’s maritime activities, being dominated by the U.S. and relying on allies and partners’ collaboration. As its pilot projects implemented, the IPMDA is placing cutting-edge technologies into the real-time maritime situation awareness in Indo-Pacific and enforcing information dissemination by creating innovative platforms. Meanwhile, the initiative is promoting capacity-building in the fields of data dissemination, law enforcement and military collaboration among partner countries. Its implications on the balance of regional maritime power, orders construction and China’s activities are emerging. Although it has potentials to grow, the future of the IPMDA will be limited by various uncertainties, which proofs reversely that the safety and security of the region require cooperative efforts from all stakeholders but not special initiatives or arrangements for dividing the region into two camps.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
