For the Heart of the Indo-Pacific: Coast Guard and Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security
- ISI Commentaries
- Feb 16
- 6 min read
by: Abel Josafat Manullang
It doesn’t take much rumination to appreciate the primacy of the sea for Southeast Asia’s development. First, the sea serves as the path through which numerous activities, notably economic ones, could be carried out. Globally, around 80% of trade is carried out through the sea (UNCTAD, 2021). By taking those activities into account, the sea can also be seen to be the very container of resources that are important for states in the region. It is estimated that the region’s marine resources could reach an amount as high as US$2.5 trillion per year (ASEAN, 2024). The combined role the sea has for many states make it an important matter for their respective national interests.
Apart from being the treasure chest containing priceless natural resources, the sea also serves as an important stage for the region’s geopolitics. A prominent example being China’s claim and presence across the South China Sea amidst the ongoing territorial dispute with other states. Hence, with the many things at stake, maritime security and stability remain as important as ever. Another noteworthy issue on the table would be the many transnational crimes taking place in the region’s maritime domain. Across the region, the regional states have witnessed a vast assortment of it, from human trafficking, maritime terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal waste dumping, and many more. The difficulty to tackle said issues emanate from how they are non-state and transnational, making it difficult for any individual state alone.
In recent times, when it comes to maritime governance and its security maintenance, states in the region have resorted to numerous means, from using their own navy, ministry of foreign affairs, to having the head of states to discuss the matter. The topic runs the gamut of a wide variety of actors. However, there lies an important instrument that could fit well with the plethora of threats and type of landscape in the sea, that being the coast guard.
Coast guard as a relevant instrument in the region
Coast guard can be understood as one of the agencies within a state that safeguard the sea and coastal areas within a state’s sovereignty. In recent times, the coast guard has oftentimes found itself working beyond the coast of its home states. It can be seen how they would be involved in a bigger endeavor like international fora that’s attended to by coast guards from other states. Such a feat is quite ubiquitous in Southeast Asia’s maritime landscape given the sea’s role in connecting the many states in the region. Amidst such a stage, the coast guard is one of the relevant actors fit to face the many transnational crimes riddling the region’s sea. Some examples can be made for Southeast Asia’s maritime landscape, like in the Malacca Strait and the Sulu and Celebes Seas. For the former, the Malacca strait has seen its share of maritime piracy cases where in 2023 it witnessed more than 30 cases (ICC, 2024). In facing it, Singapore’s coast guard (the Police Coast Guard) has taken some strides from carrying out coordinated patrols to signing a memorandum of understanding with its Indonesian counterparts (Yeo, 2024). As for the latter, said areas have been the operating stage for the Abu Sayyaf group, a terrorist group based in Southern Philippines that has a record of maritime terrorism that gets the goat of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines itself. Against that backdrop, the three countries have sought to strengthen their collaboration during the 10th Contact Group on the Sulu and Celebes Seas (CGSCS) Regional Plenary (Iman, 2023). Aside from that, the involved parties, through their coast guard units, could also engage in joint patrol over the areas.
Akin to other government maritime agencies, take the navy for example, the coast guard can also partake in maritime diplomacy activities. An example can be made out of Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM). HACGAM involves member states from Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia. Such a forum would allow the agencies to exchange knowledge and highlight issues relevant to maritime security and safety in their respective area (HACGAM, n.d.). Such a feat is now also present at the heart of the Indo-Pacific with the creation of ASEAN Coast Guard Forum (ACF).
The emergence and development of ASEAN’s Coast Guard Forum
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For the case of Southeast Asia, almost every member state has their own coast guard units. One of the roles that coast guard can carry out in an interconnected stage like the sea is as a maritime diplomacy instrument. This use of the coast guard is one that ASEAN has its eyes on for the past few years. With Indonesia spearheading the project, ASEAN now has its own forum dedicated to its member states’ coast guard agencies. The ACF has now entered its third deliberation in the Philippines this June with the first two being held in Indonesia (TNI, 2024).
The new platform for cooperation that the ACF could provide is an important addition to the region’s development, notably its maritime security. The ACF could provide the member states’ coast guards a platform for knowledge exchange, capacity building, and multilateralism which is important in the maritime domain. It is also important to highlight how almost all ASEAN member states have attended the prior ACF meetings, even Myanmar given its present state.
As a forum in its early development, the ACF could provide ASEAN a better leeway in addressing its maritime security, specifically against the aforementioned non-state threats. One way of understanding it is by taking into account how the coast guard does not possess the military prowess or size in comparison to other units, like the navy. With that in mind, it can be seen how the ACF could cater to the general interest of ASEAN member states. Such is the case as the repercussions stemming from non-state threats over the sea are not something that would be enjoyed by either ASEAN as a regional bloc or its member states as the regional states that have a varying degree of reliance on the sea.
The presence of the ACF is also not one to be associated with a cloud of antagonism. Neither China nor the US has anything to worry about when it comes to ACF, not to mention to label it as a threat. Despite the perennial nature of the South China Sea dispute, the ACF is not formed to solely be fixated on it as ASEAN already has developed its own path when it comes to said dispute. As mentioned in numerous meetings over the forum, the ACF catered to the many issues and opportunities that can be explored to bolster the region’s maritime security. This is also not to put aside how the forum can be used to enhance the ties between China and ASEAN member states. That particular notion is noteworthy given China’s already close ties with ASEAN, as apparent in its presence across many ASEAN bodies and agreements, along with how the ACF is still in its development. The same wind can also be extrapolated for the US given its strong ties with ASEAN and how it already went as far as expressing its interest in working together with the ACF in June 2024 (ASEAN, 2024). Therefore, it can be understood how even after expanding the concern from maritime to regional security, the ACF would not contribute to destabilizing it in relations to the external powers. On the contrary, it would instead put on the table a new means to bolster amity among the regional states, something that would strengthen the regional security, specifically in the maritime domain.
Closure
The use of Coast Guard allows ASEAN to not only remain relevant but also to maintain its centrality in the region’s development. Especially amidst the growing competition between the two global powers that could potentially shove ASEAN out of the spotlight. It is also important to remember the primacy of the sea for the region’s security and development, two things that make the coast guard all the more important for the region. Against that backdrop, ASEAN has taken some steps to address its importance, notably from the creation of the ASEAN Coast Guard Forum. Moving beyond that, ASEAN and its member states can opt to engage with the two global powers by using coast guard. Such a possibility exists given the not-so-militaristic nature of coast guard and its important role for the heart of the Indo-Pacific’s maritime security. Aside from the rosy prospects that the ACF can unleash on the region, one also needs to take into account that it is still in development. There may lie some challenges pertaining to its institutionalization, as in how the attention to the region’s security may vary among ASEAN member states. However, given the persistence of the ACF’s development, dating back to 2022 to this year, across numerous ASEAN chairmanship, it can be noted that ASEAN’s determination to get a better grip on its maritime security may prevail.
Disclaimer
This content is part of ISI Commentaries to serve the latest comprehensive and reliable analysis on International Relations, security, politics, and social-cultural in Indo-Pacific Region. Read more how to to submit it: https://www.isi-indonesia.com/write-for-us
Division: Defense Policy and Strategic Division
About the writer
Abel Josafat Manullang is a final year international relations student at Universitas Padjadjaran. He has developed a penchant into the topics of maritime security, regional security, and ASEAN’s development. More of his works can be looked up on his Google Scholar profile.
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