East Asian states’ maritime strategy and regional order

East Asia is a vast maritime region where the mechanisms of interactions between states need to be reconsidered, especially when compared to Europe and America, where the regions are predominantly continental. This panel discusses East Asian states' maritime strategies and their impacts on the regional order amidst the strategic competition between the United States and the People's Republic of China. In particular, the panel focuses on the maritime strategies of non-great powers and the use of sea power in the region. East Asia is a broad area encompassing both Northeast and Southeast Asia. Maritime territorial disputes in the region, including the South China Sea conflict and the East China Sea issue, are not simple territorial contests but are connected to the struggle for establishing regional order. For instance, the South China Sea dispute involves struggles over norms and rule-shaping in the maritime realm. Despite the Arbitral Tribunal's ruling on the unlawfulness of China's maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea, which is a ruling body of the current liberal maritime order in the region, Beijing continues to try to enforce its rules. This shows that countries in the region have different preferences on the rules and norms and the case illustrates that the maritime conflict is not merely a territorial dispute but also a larger contest over order establishment.
As non-great powers in the region have become more exposed to struggles over order in the maritime realm, they have begun to implement their own maritime strategies to shape the order according to their preferences. These strategies are not limited to traditional naval strategies but also include broader policymaking that involves the economic-security nexus, naval diplomacy, and norm-shaping through grey-zone activities. This panel explores various angles with diverse case studies from both Northeast and Southeast Asian states. Papers by authors with varied backgrounds offer multiple perspectives on how non-great powers in the region are developing strategies to navigate and survive amidst the ongoing struggles for order in East Asia.