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| Noli me tangere (KI-Media Note: Touch me not) |
Friday, 01 July 2011
Written by Gavin M. Greenwood
Asia Sentinel
Law of the sea, law of the jungle
Two boundary disputes creating tension in Southeast Asia are potential flashpoints for localized and in one case, even global conflict. While the former is credible and the latter far less so, the two cases reveal both entrenched and emerging attitudes within Asia that point to more insidious political risks than a brief naval engagement or sporadic skirmishing in a remote forest.
The re-ignition of Beijing’s claim to sovereignty over much of the South China Sea has largely focused on the potential military risks involved in the dispute moving from heated rhetoric to kinetic action. The multilayered legal, political and economic issues involved in the dispute are complex and almost infinitely debatable, but the core point is that China views the huge maritime area as mare nostrum and has indicated that it has no intention of amending this position.
The other point of border friction involves Thailand and Cambodia in a dispute over a number of kinks and detours along their frontier that divide ancient Hindu temple sites. These disputes have led to sporadic clashes and the loss of life over the past few years, often coinciding with heightened domestic tensions and the corresponding advantages of seeking unity through emphasising a traditional external threat.
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