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Salleh, Iskandar Sazlan Mohd; Yassin, Capt. Mat Taib --- "Southeast Asian Maritime Security Cooperation: Malaysian Perspectives and Recent Developments" [2004] MarStudies 19; (2004) 137 Maritime Studies 28

• Southeast Asian Maritime Security Cooperation: Malaysian Perspectives and Recent Developments
• Introduction
• National Institutional Establishment
• Naval Cooperation
• Cooperation to Combat Trans-Boundary Threats
• CBM and Operational Level
• Conclusion
• Endnotes

Southeast Asian Maritime Security Cooperation: Malaysian Perspectives and Recent Developments^[1]

Iskandar Sazlan Mohd Salleh and Capt. Mat Taib Yassin^[2]

Introduction

The Southeast Asian region is currently facing numerous domestic and trans-boundary security challenges, most of which differ from those that were previously anticipated. While before most of the threats were centred on state-related activities, today non-state actors are emerging as the main source of threat to the legitimacy of some regional governments.

As a nation that shares common sea and land boundaries with all its ASEAN neighbours, Malaysia has been in the forefront in the initiation of cooperative engagements with neighbouring countries particularly in combating trans-boundary crimes.

National Institutional Establishment

Although a little late, with the conclusion of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Malaysia has realised that given its geo-strategic maritime realities, greater attention needs to be given to the numerous maritime issues that have been emerging from time to time. With this realisation the National Maritime Council (NMC) was formed in October 1987. This was followed by the institutionalisation of various other mechanisms to enhance maritime cooperation with neighbouring countries some of which have become a pivotal component of the national security policy.

The NMC was among others established with the objectives to coordinate maritime activities stemming from UNCLOS, including inter-sectoral maritime issues arising from sectional ocean management, and to recommend appropriate policy as well as to plan and coordinate matters related to integrated ocean management.

At the operational level, to enhance the security of Malaysian waters, the Malaysian Government had in 1985 agreed to set up an agency to coordinate and standardise the operations of seven maritime enforcement agencies. The agency known as the National Maritime Enforcement Coordinating Centre (NMECC), is currently based in Lumut, close to the country’s main naval base.

Apart from domestic maritime operations, NMECC is also assigned with the task of coordinating and enhancing bilateral cooperation with neighbouring maritime enforcement agencies such as:

• PATKOR: the acronym given to Patroli Koordinasi which is the system of coordinated maritime patrols carried out by Malaysia and Indonesia in the Malacca Straits since April 1993.

• PHILMAL: a maritime operation under the Malaysia-Philippines General Border Patrol with main concentration area around Sabah-Mindanao^[3]

All these bilateral cooperations will soon be handed over to the newly formed Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency or the Malaysian Coastguard.

Naval Cooperation

Besides enforcement agencies, regional maritime security cooperation was also extended to the military dimension. The Royal Malaysian Navy has long-standing and active bilateral relations with the navies of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and United States, Australia,

Table 1: Bilateral/Multilateral Exercises Between Malaysia and Foreign Maritime Enforcement
New Zealand and United Kingdom.

Bilateral exercises with the navies of Indonesia started in 1972, Thailand in 1980, Singapore in 1984 and Brunei Darussalam in 1985 (see Table 1.) These annual exercises were conducted on a rotating host basis. Due to the political sensitivity related to the Philippine’s claims over Sabah, bilateral exercises between Malaysia and the Philippines only began after the signing of the Malaysia-Philippines Joint Commission and Border Committee in 1994. Nevertheless, this agreement demonstrated that through the spirit of solidarity and cooperation existing amongst ASEAN states both countries have undertaken to put the thorny issue aside for better relations.

Similar arrangements also exist with the United States and Australian Navies. The current bilateral naval cooperation and exercises between Malaysia and United States are conducted under the 1972 Bilateral Talks and Consultative Group (BITAGG) agreement. Recently BITAGG was expanded to include bilateral exercises (such as CARAT), training

of personnel, personnel exchange program, intelligence exchange and port visits^[4] Meanwhile naval cooperation with Australia is conducted under the auspices of the Malaysia-Australia Joint Development Programme (MAJDP^[5] and the Five Defence Power Arrangement (FPDA) that also involves Singapore, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Cooperation to Combat Trans-Boundary Threats

The main objective of maritime regional cooperation is to combat regional trans-boundary threats. It has been widely recognised that no single nation in the region is capable of handling the various cross-border maritime criminal issues on its own. As such, cooperation between states whether formally or informally, is not an issue of choice but rather a necessity. The level of cooperation among the regional maritime enforcement agencies today is by any standard considered to be high. Indeed, it is a reflection of the maturity of the regional confidence building measures (CBMs). A further reflection of this maturity is the self-imposed restraint by regional states in their military activities such as the excessive showing of force. This comes about from the sensitivity to avoid undue suspicion and the need to show some level of transparency in regional military activities. It is perhaps because of this transparency that although several regional countries are entangled in the overlapping maritime territorial claims, none has recently escalated into an open skirmish.

The spat between Malaysia and Singapore over Pulau Batu Puteh, for instance, though at times appearing to have escalated to an emotional level has been carefully handled by both sides. Former Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir, declared that Malaysia will not deploy its security forces and warships in the vicinity of Pulau Batu Puteh in order to avoid confrontation.^[6]

On the law enforcement dimension, good rapport between officers of the Malaysian and Singaporean maritime enforcement agencies has enabled numerous trans-boundary issues to be effectively tackled. For example, in March 2004, timely exchange of information between the Malaysian Marine Police and their Singapore counterparts on the landing of three Malaysian fugitives on Pulau Tekong, one of the smaller Singapore islands, enabled these fugitives to be apprehended almost immediately.^[7] This timely information exchange was facilitated by the direct communications links between Malaysian Marine Police and Singapore’s Police Coast Guard. This is despite the fact that there is no official joint maritime patrol agreement between these two countries.

As mentioned earlier, bilateral maritime cooperation between Malaysia and the Philippines was formalised only on 26 September 1994. Despite being rather a new arrangement, it has managed to enhance the level of CBM especially around Sabah and Mindanao area. Under this memorandum of agreement on defence cooperation to improve bilateral security arrangement between the two countries,^[8] information exchanges such as those related to the ongoing military operations on both sides of the border has been was regularly carried out.

To further enhance regional naval cooperation, in July 2003, the Royal Malaysian Navy hosted the ASEAN Navy Interaction in Kota Kinabalu. This interaction that also included some invited extra regional guests was considered to be one of the driving forces in building and constructing a pattern of relationships among ASEAN nations^[9] by providing an avenue for regional chiefs of navies to get to know each other and share their ideas in a more informal atmosphere.

CBM and Operational Level

Notwithstanding the above statement, Malaysia had earlier put forward an idea for regional maritime enforcement agencies, particularly the navies, to adopt some kind of a common understanding at the operational level. Through close cooperation between MIMA and the Royal Malaysian Navy a series of workshops to promote the idea of the Prevention of Incidents at Sea (INCSEA) were conducted. The concept in many respects is part and parcel of naval cooperation as it provides a platform for naval leaders to interact and exchange their views on various aspects of naval-related activities. It is by no means an alternative to or a replacement for the current bilateral arrangements that already exist.

One of the objectives of INCSEA is to provide the means by which regional navies or other maritime enforcement agencies can promote their interests at sea in a more predictable manner and to ensure that only minimum force is used at all times particularly during crises. A higher objective, in fact, is to enhance confidence-building measures and trust among the navies at the tactical level.^[10]

The first INCSEA workshop involving only officers from the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) was held in 1997. Subsequent workshops and their participants were as follows:

a. 1998 – RMN and Indonesian Navy

b. 1999 – RMN, Thai and Singapore Navies

c. 2000 – RMN, Cambodian, Brunei, Myanmar and Vietnamese Navies

d. 2001 − RMN, Indian and Pakistani Navies

Not all the efforts to organise these workshops have gone to waste. One of the most prized achievements of these workshops was the conclusion of the Malaysia-Indonesia Prevention of Incidents at Sea Agreement (MALINDO INCSEA) that was signed by their respective naval chiefs in January 2001.

Conclusion

Changes in the structure and forms of regional trans-boundary maritime security threat especially those involving non-state actors have left regional states with little option except to improve and enhance their bilateral and multilateral maritime cooperation. In this regard, regional cooperation between the security agencies of Malaysia and neighbouring countries has progressively improved, consistent with improvements in their bilateral relations. The bedrock of these achievements no doubt was the relentless CBM initiatives undertaken by almost all regional states and further facilitated by the growing maturity in inter-state relations.

Endnotes

^[1] This paper was presented at the meeting of the CSCAP Maritime Cooperation Working Group held in Hanoi 26-27 May 2004.

^[2] The authors are senior researchers at the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) in Kuala Lumpur.

^[3] Cdr. Mazlan Ahmad, ‘An Overview of Maritime Enforcement in Malaysia’, Workshop on Bilateral Maritime Protection Malaysia-Thailand, 17-18 May 1999, Kuala Lumpur, p. 10.

^[4] Deputy Chief of Royal Malaysian Navy has been flown onboard USS Kitty Hawk while on transit passage in the South China Sea. See ‘Malaysia gains new experience from Kitty Hawk visit’, Bernama, 7 April 2004.

^[5] Capt. Noor Aziz Yunan, ‘Naval Cooperation and Confidence Building Measures: Royal Malaysian Navy’s Contribution’, National Maritime Conference ‘96, Melaka, 1996, pp. 5-6.

^[6] “Malaysia will not deploy warships off Pulau Batu Puteh, says PM”, Bernama, 26 December 2002

^[7] ‘Gurkhas nab fugitive on Pulau Tekong’, The Straits Times, 20 March 2004.

^[8] ‘Malaysia Defense Secretary Coming’, Manila Bulletin, 23 June 2001.

^[9] Keynote Address by Malaysia Defence Minister at the ASEAN Navy Interaction, 3-5 July 2003, Kota Kinabalu.

^[10] Opening Remarks by Deputy Chief of Royal Malaysian Navy during Workshop on INCSEA Agreements: Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Myanmar and Malaysia, 25-27 July 2000, in Kuantan.