-- Reflections from the 7th Symposium on Global Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance
The oceans are becoming more important just as maritime politics are becoming more complex. Strategic rivalry is intensifying, disputes remain unresolved, yet issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, maritime safety and fisheries management still require cooperation across borders. The real question is how maritime cooperation can endure when political consensus is increasingly hard to achieve.
That question went through the 7th Symposium on Global Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance in Sanya. Discussions ranged from the South China Sea and the Arctic to the BBNJ Agreement, blue-economy partnerships, artificial intelligence and maritime security. Beneath these diverse issues, a common proposition emerged: effective ocean governance must develop forms of cooperation that can function alongside geopolitical rivalry or maritime disputes. This idea also reflects the symposium’s broader ambition to serve not only as an open platform for debate, but as a vehicle for practical and non-exclusive maritime cooperation.
A recurring message at the forum was that cooperation cannot depend on the prior resolution of political disputes. George Yeo noted that maritime claims are often zero-sum and difficult to compromise, particularly when domestic politics affect even constrain governments. His response was to build a “positive agenda” around areas where common interests are easier to identify, including maritime safety, environmental protection and fisheries.
The same logic appeared across discussions on both the South China Sea and Arctic. Speakers on the South China Sea argued that unresolved disputes should not prevent cooperation in marine environmental protection, scientific research, fisheries management, search and rescue, and other functional areas. In the Arctic, Pavel Devyatkin described a similar approach as “competitive coexistence”: China and the United States may remain strategic competitors while still cooperating where both sides face clear costs from inaction, such as maritime accidents or poorly managed fisheries.
The next challenge for ocean governance lies increasingly in implementation. The BBNJ Agreement illustrates this shift clearly. Reaching agreement on common rules was a major achievement, but putting them into practice requires reliable data, technical expertise and institutional capacity. I Made Andi Arsana, stressed that effective BBNJ implementation depends on geospatial information and warned that unequal access to data, technology and expertise could limit the ability of developing countries to participate fully.
The oceans will remain spaces of competition, strategic interest and unresolved disputes. But they are also shared spaces where environmental risks, navigational safety, scientific research and economic activity continue to connect states regardless of political differences. Cooperation does not always need to be broad to be meaningful. In a more fragmented geopolitical environment, limited but practical arrangements may prove more resilient than ambitious political frameworks. The objective is not a world without rivalry, but an ocean order in which rivalry does not make cooperation impossible.
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