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The Changing Meanings of ‘Freedom of Navigation’: Australia, China, and the Politics of Order in the ‘Indo-Pacific’

Asia
China
Foreign Policy
Governance
International Relations
Security
USA
Constructivism
Christian Wirth
German Institute for Global And Area Studies
Christian Wirth
German Institute for Global And Area Studies

Abstract

The so-called freedom of navigation through the Malacca straits and the South China Sea, some of the world’s busiest trade routes, has long been of concern to extra-regional powers. Increasing tensions caused by territorial disputes in the Spratly islands propelled the issue to the forefront of foreign and security policy making in the Asia-Pacific. Yet, despite its frequent deployment for the justification of naval operations protecting the ‘rules-based order’, the substance of the freedom of navigation concept remains ambiguous. Starting from the original provisions on navigational regimes in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, this chapter analyses the changing meaning that Australian authorities and think tank analysts, have been attributing to the freedom of navigation. Focusing on political rather than legal discourses, the chapter answers the questions: freedom of navigation for whom and for what purpose? It finds that while the public understands freedom of navigation mainly as the safety of maritime transport, government practices aim at securing prerogatives to freely move warships across East Asian seas and thereby shore up long-standing alliance relationships across the Asia-Pacific. As such, the freedom of navigation serves as proxy for a specific notion of international order to be secured.