동아시아 해양분쟁과 미·중 관계 전망

Maritime Disputes in East Asia and Prospect of the Sino-U.S. Relationship

동아시아는 방대한 해양영역을 포함함에 따라 유럽과는 달리 ‘해양지향적’(seascape)인 안보환경을 노출하고 있으며 1990년대부터 격화된 도서영유권 다툼을 비롯한 해양 분쟁은 이 지역의 최대 안보위협 요인으로 등장하고 있다. 전통적으로 동아시아 지역의 해양 분쟁은 크게 ①소도서에 대한 영유권 갈등 ②해양경계선 획정 대립 ③해양자원 관리 및 배분에 대한 이견 등으로 분류되지만 유엔해양법협약이 정한 배타적 경제수역(EEZ) 내에서의 제3국 군사 활동 허용 여부도 논란의 대상으로 떠오르고 있다. 또한 최근에는 중국이 영유권 분쟁이 지속되고 있는 남중국해 일부 도서에 대해 매립활동을 함으로써 이의 합법성과 의도를 둘러싸고도 관련국 간 - 특히 중국과 ‘항행의 자유’를 내세우고 있는 미국 간 - 의 분쟁이 벌어지고 있다. 이와 같은 동아시아의 해양 분쟁에 따라 이 지역에서 일어날 수 있는 무력 충돌을 포함한 ‘긴급사태’는 모두 해양과 관련되어 있으므로, 평상시를 포함한 분쟁의 잠복기에 문제를 평화적으로 해결하려는 지역 환경의 조성과 관련 당사국 간의 신뢰구축은 그 중요성을 아무리 강조해도 지나치지 않을 것이다.

East Asia, whose security environment is a ‘seascape,’ is the region where an armed clash could occur at any time due to noticeable maritime disputes between nations. No doubt, the primary source of regional tension in East Asia is maritime dispute, which is defined as “a disagreement on a point of law or fact, a conflict of legal views or of interests between the parties on maritime issues.” Maritime disputes in East Asia have emerged since the early 1950s, but have been intensified from the late 1990s. There are three major types of maritime disputes in East Asia: (1) territorial disputes over small islands; (2) maritime boundary delimitation between adjacent and or opposite coastal states; and (3) allocation & sustainable use of marine resources. Scholars argue that there is a new type of maritime dispute in the region which is related to the different interpretation of a right under UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to regulate the activities of foreign military forces in exclusive economic zone (EEZ) particularly between China and the U.S. Lately, the new types of maritime disputes are in the headlines. They include the installation of ‘safety zone’ and island reclamations. China declared a new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on November 23, 2013, which covers a wide swath of the East China Sea. In addition, China has recently expanded island construction on contested atolls and underwater features in the South China Sea, trying to build runways and port facilities capable of hosting a variety of military planes and ships. This construction has been criticized by other countries-particularly by the U.S., raising the issue of ‘freedom of navigation’ in the South China Sea. The above developments have led a series of dangerous tit-for-tat actions in the East Asian regional sea and they could escalate into a military conflict. There are several conceivable contingencies involving an armed clash in the regional seas. In most armed clashes in East Asia, if not all, the first gun-shot has always come from the sea. Under this situation, East Asian nations are encouraged to explore a range of instruments and institutions for collective commitment, voluntary compliance and peaceful dispute resolution―from bilateral agreements to global ones―in support of shared values on good order at sea.