Humanity in crisis, will SL accept challenge to build a maritime community with shared future?

Keynote Speech delivered by

Tamara Kunanayakam

at International Conference on
“Environment, Development and Human Rights:

Marine Ecological Protection in the Process of Modernization”, held in Beijing, China on 26 Sept. 2023.

I’m grateful to the organisers for this opportunity to share my reflections on China’s ambitious project of building a Maritime Community with a Shared Future at a time when international cooperation is indispensable to meet the challenges of an unprecedented systemic crisis of epic proportions that is threatening all of humanity.

I feel particularly concerned coming as I do from a strategically located island on the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka – that has had to pay a heavy price for resisting pressures to become a camp-follower of an increasingly aggressive global hegemon (the US) in decline. External interference in our internal affairs, unilateral sanctions, political destabilisation, selective targeting at the UN Human Rights Council, and a long, foreign-backed separatist war has been our lot for the past four decades.

We are in an emergency. It is time we address the crisis of humanity at its root. Identifying responsibility is no longer an option, it is a necessity, because political decisions are never neutral. They reflect a certain vision of society and of the world – and where visions are irreconcilable, choices must be made – and assumed!

Mine will be a right to development approach – multidimensional and systemic, an alternative approach which rejects the notion that Western civilisation defines progress and development and calls for a development strategy in which the people are the central subjects of development not objects, the driving force and architects of their destiny. There is no single model; it cannot be imposed from the outside. The 1986 UN Declaration on the Right to Development calls for a development that is based on social justice and equality and not on markets, nor profits, nor growth, a development in which social progress is achieved not through competition, but through solidarity and cooperation. The right to development approach seeks to tackle the causes of inequality and injustices at its root, identifying them, then eliminating them, as a pre-condition for achieving development for all people without discrimination.

At the root of the crisis that manifests itself in various forms – economic, social, political, environmental, geopolitical, including at the heart of the capitalist West, is the dominant economic model, Capitalism, and the global order based on US hegemony, whose purpose is to break down national barriers to capital’s expansion in search of profit. Sovereignty is the principal enemy of capitalism and of US hegemony – hence, the importance of addressing the security challenge and guaranteeing maritime peace for marine ecological protection to be effective. The defence of sovereignty – and its inherent right to territorial integrity – also happens to be the cornerstone of the United Nations Charter-based international order, without which cooperation between sovereign States indispensable to resolving problems with global ramifications would be impossible.

Any discussion on building a Community with a Shared Future cannot, therefore, ignore the interrelationship between (a) the dominant economic system – Capitalism; (b) US hegemony and military force – they go hand in hand; (c) maritime security; and (d) the environmental challenge. The global expansion of Capital is always accompanied by an ideology to legitimise unhindered expansion and the use of unilateral coercive measures, including IMF/World Bank conditionalities, sanctions, and the threat or use of military force.

Tamara delievering keynote address

Regarding the maritime challenge, how does the unilateral vision of the United States and its vassals, the United Kingdom and France in particular, manifest itself?

America’s so-called “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” military strategy that is being played out in the South China Sea, the nebulous “rules-based order” that it seeks to impose, and the domination of the ocean’s valuable seabed resources by the free-market ideology represent the principal threat to building a Maritime Community with a Shared Future.

I will address each of these separately:

(a) “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” military strategy

The Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy is no different from the logic that propelled Western colonial expansion. It is a military strategy whose objective is to combat China, grab the oceans valuable resources on behalf of a tiny oligarchy, and nullify the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Seas that restricts its domination.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Seas had imposed certain restrictions on the freedom of the dominant Western maritime powers to freely roam the seas. A compromise reached between these powers and developing countries had significantly reduced the area of the ocean they had once dominated using the unlimited 17th Century Freedom of the Seas policy. It also increased the spaces under national jurisdiction of coastal States. The territorial sea under the sovereignty of the coastal State was expanded from 3 to 12 nautical miles, and a new 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was created over which the coastal State enjoyed sovereign rights and jurisdiction. The areas beyond national jurisdiction were confined to the high seas, with a new “freedom of the high seas” policy introducing restrictions on its use, including provisions that they be reserved for peaceful purposes.

It is no coincidence that Obama’s November 2011 pivot to the Asia-Pacific saw China as the principal threat at a time Western capitalism was grappling with the 2008 Great Recession, and US hegemony was being challenged by newly emerging powers, among whom China and its strategic partners, played an important role. Already then, the superiority of Chinese socialism and its ability to meet the needs of humanity was becoming evident.

The Free and Open Indo Pacific is a sinister networked security system designed to dominate two distinct oceans and continents – along with their airspace, cyberspace, and valuable marine resources. The former US Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger described the Indo Pacific as an area reaching from “California to Kilimanjaro”. In other words, an area covering the entire expanse of land and waters – from the Western Pacific coast of the United States, through the South China Sea and across the Indian Ocean to the Eastern Coast of Africa, Western Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the Middle East!

(b) The ‘rules-based order’

In July 2010, the Obama Administration declared as a national interest priority the so-called ‘Freedom of Navigation operations’ by American warships and military aircraft in the South China Sea. They were part of a fait accompli strategy to nullify UNCLOS and impose a nebulous “rules-based order” by forcibly penetrating the territorial seas and Exclusive Economic Zones of coastal States that set restrictions on the military use of seas under their jurisdiction. In the case of territorial seas, over which the coastal state has sovereignty, Washington cynically claims that the UNCLOS provision permitting “innocent passage” applies also to warships, not only to commercial vessels. In the case of Exclusive Economic Zones, it rejects the sovereign rights and national jurisdiction accorded to coastal States, referring to them as “international waters” to which unlimited “freedom of the seas” apply. It should be noted that the terms “international waters” and “freedom of the seas,” both exist only in US military documents, and not in any international law.

(c) Free-market ideology and the ocean’s resources

As for the facilitation of corporate plunder of the ocean’s valuable seabed resources, the United States and its Western allies cynically manoeuvred during the UN Law of the Sea negotiations to obtain corporate control over the area of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction, recognised as Common Heritage of Mankind. During negotiations on deep ocean mining in the area, developing countries had argued in favour of a multilateral International Seabed Authority with a monopoly to exploit seabed resources. They were against a free-market model that would reduce the value of seabed resources to free-market prices, measure efficiency in terms of competition and commercial viability, and be based on decisions taken on technical considerations, rather than on political judgement. The West, on the other hand, had insisted on commercial viability and incentives to private corporations, equating free-market with “freedom of the seas”. To resolve the conflict, the United States proposed a compromise ‘parallel system’ permitting both models to function simultaneously. However, having cornered developing countries into agreeing to the parallel system, the US and its Western allies rolled back the concessions on which the parallel system had been secured. And, once rolled back, the US rejected the already reduced regime, and refused to sign the Treaty.

The outcome of the betrayal was an Implementing Agreement on the commercial model, with the monopoly Enterprise postponed until it could function without subsidies – which means, never – or at least not until we have a just and new international order! This Agreement could have far-reaching consequences for future legal agreements on such important issues as technology transfer and the uses of outer space.

How do you negotiate with an opponent whose history is a history of duplicity and betrayal?

Conclusion

Given the formidable obstacles in our way, how do we move forward toward building a maritime community with a shared future?

We can no longer satisfy ourselves with piecemeal approaches that, if at all, address only the consequences, and even then, only partially or temporarily. The situation demands that we rise to the occasion, identify the causes with all honesty, analyse the situation with lucidity, and take actions that are courageous.

It is clear that capitalism, driven by the profit motive, is incapable of meeting the needs and aspirations of the majority of the world’s people, and the ability of our earth to sustain life. It is clear that US hegemony, its facilitator and protector, whose vision is a unilateral world order based on the ideology of American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny, stands opposed to UN Charter-based multilateralism and the urgent need for international cooperation, founded on respect for the principle of sovereignty and sovereign equality of States. Capitalism and US hegemony constitute the principal obstacle to development, peace, human rights, and life on Earth.

What is needed is the political will to clarify concepts, engage in a battle of ideas, make choices, and translate words into concrete action. Ultimately, however, it is the balance of forces that will determine which interpretation of concepts will prevail, which ideas take root, and how and what form actions will take.

In the midst of the crisis, and the intensification of geopolitical conflicts, and wars, including NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, we are already witnessing that shift in the balance of forces – the emergence of a new multipolar world order under the impetus of China, which is advancing a vision of a new kind of cooperation in which there are no losers, only winners. We are also seeing an acceleration in emancipatory processes, such as de-dollarisation, the expansion of BRICS, and, the success of the Belt and Road Initiative which will celebrate its 10th Anniversary soon, and which involves more than 150 countries and more than 30 international organisations, affecting more than 60% of the world’s population and approximately 35% of the global economy. We are also seeing a new wave of movements seeking liberation from insidious forms of alien domination and control, such as is taking place in the Sahel.

With social and political upheaval affecting the capitalist world, the single most important threat to the order based on Western values and institutional models has become China’s socialism, which has succeeded in achieving what has been described as the 21st century miracle – the elimination of extreme poverty in 2020, bringing 800 million people out of poverty.

In comparison, poverty has continued to grow in the wealthiest parts of the capitalist world. In the United States, according to official figures, poverty rose 4.6% in 2022, and child poverty more than doubled, rising 7.2%. According to Oxfam, in this wealthiest country in the world, nearly 40 million people (11%) live in poverty. A recent Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that every year, hundreds of children die or are left severely injured in emergency rooms across America, with only about 14% certified as ready to treat children. Europe has also seen an alarming increase in the number of children and families living in poverty. According to an IMF report, the number of children suffering from poverty in the EU increased in 2020 by 19%, or close to 1 million. In Germany, one of the richest countries of the world, the number of Germans living in extreme poverty in 2019 even increased by 40% to reach 11,1% of the total population. 13.8 million Germans either live in poverty or are at risk of slipping below the poverty line. In France, according to Oxfam, at least 17% of the population live below the monetary poverty line (food and energy).

Even the World Bank has admitted that China has become the greatest contributor to poverty alleviation in the global context. According to its 2022 figures, China has contributed to approximately three quarters of the global reduction in poverty.

What shape the emerging new world order will take is yet to be determined. International legal instruments that can give sense to collective action for radical change already exist – among them, the 1986 UN Declaration on the Right to Development.

A few days from now, we will be commemorating the 74th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. At 3 pm on October 1, 1949, in his proclamation address, Chairman Mao Zedong declared : “We, the 475 million Chinese people, have now stood up and the future of our nation is infinitely bright”. During our visit this weekend to Qingdao, we witnessed for ourselves the spectacular achievements of the people of China, and were struck by the trust your founding Leader had in his people.

As we return to our respective countries tomorrow, we will take back with us the inspiring image of a people with a humane vision and the commitment to building a Maritime Community with a Shared Future. It is up to us now to ensure that the balance of forces shifts in favour of humanity! As Sun-Tzu remarked in the Art of War, “Never venture, never win”.